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New  Ideals 

in  the  Planning  of 

Cities,  Towns  and  Villages 


JOHN  NOLEN 

Tou'n  and  City  Planner 


AMERICAN  CITY  BUREAU 
New  York  City 


Copyright,  19 19,  by 
American  City  Bureau 


J   '.' 


>  •  •      *     «> 

>  •  •     •  •  t' 


•  •        «•     (. 


B«        «••*•••«< 


•  «  ft  O 


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'  ft  C      c    c •• 


'T^HIS  book  on  New  Ideals  in  the  Planning  of  Cities, 
Towns  and  Villages  was  prepared  and  set  in  type  as 
one  of  a  series  for  the  Overseas  Army,  A.  E.  F.,  by  the  De- 
partment of  Citizenship,  Army  Educational  Commission. 
Before  it  was  actually  printed,  word  was  received  from 
France  to  send  over  no  more  materials,  because  the  men  in 
the  overseas  service  were  being  so  rapidly  returned  to  their 
homes. 

The  purpose  of  the  book,  however,  remains ;  viz.,  "to  pre- 
sent fundamental  principles,  and  stimulate  intelligent  study 
of  the  problems  of  citizenship."  Under  these  circumstances, 
it  seemed  desirable  to  complete  its  publication  at  once,  and 
arrange  for  its  circulation.  The  American  City  Bureau  has 
responded  to  this  call,  and  agreed  to  cooperate  in  a  program 
looking  toward  the  fulfillment,  so  far  as  possible,  of  the 
original  purpose  of  the  handbook.  In  taking  this  action,  the 
American  City  Bureau  is  giving  one  more  expression  to  its 
wide  and  sound  interest  in  everything  that  affects  vitally  the 
welfare  of  cities,  towns  and  villages. 

All  the  illustrations  in  this  volume  are  taken,  through  the 

courtesy  of  the  National  Municipal  League  and  D.  Appleton 

&  Company,  from  the  following  copyrighted  books :  Satellite 

Cities,    by    Graham    R.    Taylor;    City    F'anning,    edited    by 

John  Nolen  ;  and  Town  Planning  for  Small  Communities, 

by  Charles  S.  Bird,  Jr.  t  ^t- 

^  John  Nolen. 

Cambridge,  Mass. 

June,  1919. 


378661 


New  Ideals  in  the  Planning  of 
Cities,  Towns  and  Villages 

PART  I 

Replanning  American  Cities 

THE  cities  of  the  United  States  have  not  yet  made 
many  of  those  pubHc  improvements  that  are  so  es- 
sential to  modern  life,  especially  for  the  new  era. 
Their  streets  are  still  obstructed  and  rendered  dangerous  as 
well  as  unsightly  by  poles  and  wires;  school  grounds  are 
usually  too  small  and  undeveloped ;  playgrounds  are  inade- 
quate in  number  and  size ;  waterfronts  are  unattractive, 
wastefully  administered,  and  mostly  in  private  hands;  parks 
are  detached  tracts  of  land,  unrelated  one  to  the  other. 
American  cities  have  not  yet  solved  the  serious  problems 
related  to  railroad  approaches  and  terminals  and  the  elim- 
ination of  grade  crossings.  They  have  not  yet  acted  com- 
prehensively with  regard  to  the  main  thoroughfares  for  traf- 
fic or  pleasure  driving  or  street  extensions  in  general.  In 
a  word,  they  have  not  ytX.  applied  in  a  businesslike  and 
economical  manner  the  methods  characteristic  of  the  mod- 
ern city  planning  movement.  Therefore  the  American  city 
still  suffers  in  many  ways  from  haphazard,  piecemeal  and 
shortsighted  procedure. 

THE  NEW  CIVIC  SPIRIT 

Nothing  is  more  marked  than  the  steadily  increasing  at- 
tention to  every  influence  affecting  the  improvement  of  city 
life.  This  is  due  partly  to  the  unprecedented  growth  of 
urban  communities,  partly  to  the  vastly  greater  complexity  of 
modern  city  life,  partly  to  evils  resulting  from  the  lack  of 
skill  and  experience  in  planning  and  constructing  American 

[5] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PUNNING  OF 


Bridge  Across  the  Mississii-ri  River  at  bT.  Louis,  Mo. 

This    bridge   was   a   factor   in    the    civic    isolation    of   East 

St.   Louis.     Although   built  to   relieve  St.   Louis  from 

high  freight  rates,  citizens  refused  for  years  to  vote 

for  the  completion  of  the  Free  Bridge,  fearing 

railroad  control  of  the  Illinois  approach 

cities,  but  especially  to  the  new  civic  spirit.  Public  opinion 
on  this  subject  is  at  last  aroused.  Throughout  the  United 
States,  civic,  commercial  and  other  organizations  have  under- 
taken to  cope  vigorously  with  the  problem  of  improving 
cities. 

In  the  awakening  to  the  imperative  need  of  a  different 
and  better  method  of  city  making,  the  United  States  is 
following  the  precedent  of  other  nations.  Continental  Euro- 
pean cities  decades  ago,  and  English  and  South  American 
cities  more  recently,  changed  radically  their  municipal  regu- 
lations and  their  methods  of  building  cities.     The  splendid 

[6] 


CITIES.  TOWNS  AND  r  ILL  AGES 

results  of  their  activity  are  now  apparent  to  every  visitor 
and  citizen.     Transportation  and  highway  systems,  water- 
fronts, harbors  and  docks,  industrial  and  commercial  devel- 
opment,   public    recreation,    better    homes,    particularly    for 
families  of  small  means  —  such  great  municipal  subjects  as 
these  have  been  handled  with  skill  and  experience  supported 
by  law  and  public  authority.    This  widespread  civic  awaken- 
ing is  no  vague  movement,  with  vague  and  indefinite  aims. 
It   seeks   to    provide   convenience   in   streets   and   buildings, 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  public  health,  to  recognize  the 
true    function    and    place   of    art,    to    regard    obligations    to 
future  generations,  to  supply  the  imperative  needs  of  chil- 
dren,   to    satisfy    the    love    of    nature    and    the    desire    for 
outdoor   life.      But   the   form   of   this   civic   awakening  that 
is  most  significant  and  promising  is  the  recognition  ot  the 
need   of   comprehensive  planning  and   replanning,   especially 
of  the  smaller  cities.      City  planning,  let  it  be  understood, 
is  not  a  movement  to  make  cities  beautiful  in  a  superficial 
sense.     Its  purposes  are  fundamental.     It  aims  consciously 
to  provide  those  facilities  that  are  for  the  common  good,  that 
concern   everybody ;   it  seeks  to  save  waste,   the  almost  in- 
calculable waste  due  to  unskilful  and  planless  procedure,  for 
by  doing  things  at  the  right  time  and  in  the  right  way  com- 
prehensive city  planning  saves  far  more  than  its  cost. 

MAIN  DIVISIONS  OF  CITY  PLANNING 

The  two  main  divisions  of  city  planning  are:  first,  cities 
and  towns  planned  in  advance  of  the  settlement  of  popula- 
tion ;  and  secondly,  existing  cities  replanned  or  remodeled  to 
meet  new^requirements.  Plamung  ajtown  or  city  before 
settlement  is  made  has  great  advantages.  Many  cities  in- 
tended primarily  for  governmental,  industrial,  or  residential 
purposes  have  been  so  planned.  It  is  a  method,  indeed, 
which  merits  much  wider  use.     Of  this  type,  Washington 

[7] 


NEIV  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 

is  the  most  notable  illustration.     But  it  is  seldom  .possible 
to  foresee  with  accuracy  the  future  of  a  town  or  city,  or 
to  plan  for  it  from  the  hc;j;tiininf2;.     The  complex  influences 
which   determine  the  selection  of   the  sites  for  towns  and 
cities   and   the   locations  of   the   first   streets   and    buildin{2;s 
must  usually  be  left  to  work  out  their  results.     The  op- 
portunity deliberately  to   lay  out  new  towns  and  cities  is 
limited  and  probably  always  will   be.      When,   however,  a 
small  population  has  been  attracted  to  a  town  by  natural 
causes  and   there  are   indications  that  because  of  situation, 
climate,  the  trend  of  trade  and  commerce,  or  other  forces, 
an   important   city   is   to   be   established,    then,    if   action   is 
taken  soon  enough,  it  is  entirely  practicable  to  replan   the 
town  so  as  to  provide  satisfactorily  for  its  future.     There 
are  scores  of  cities  in  this  country  with  a  population  today 
of   25,000  that  will   have  50,000  in   a  generation  or   less. 
We  can  realize  this  fact  more  vividly  if  we  look  back  fifty 
or  sixty  years.     The  average  increase  for  all  cities  in  the 
United   States  during  the  decade  from   1900  to    19 10  was 
31.8  per  cent.     The  gravest  neglect  is  the  failure  to  replan 
and  replan  to  meet  increased  demands,  to  readjust  and  read- 
just, to  use  art  and  skill  and  foresight  to  remodel  existing 
conditions  and  also  to  mold  and  fit  for  use  the  new  outlying 
territory  about  to  be  occupied.     The  men  who  laid  out  the 
first  streets   in   London   or   Boston,    for   example,   provided 

,  for  the  needs  of  their  time  with  considerable  common  sense. 

I  They  could  scarcely  have  been  expected  to  foresee  the  require- 
ments of   a   large  city.      But   their   successors,   who,   many 

1  generations  afterwards,  vetoed  Sir  Christopher  Wren's  plan 
for  tiie  improvement  of  London,  and  still  later  the  sugges- 
tions for  the  betterment  of  Boston's  city  plan  after  the  fire 
of  1872  —  those  men  displayed  a  lack  of  good  sense  and 
judgment   in    providing   for   their   own    time   and    an   even 

■  greater  lack  of  foresight  and  public  spirit  with  regard  to 

[8] 


CITIKS,  roWN^  AND  VILLAGES 

the  future.     Many  other  examples  mlKht  he  given  to  illus- 
trate this  same  point. 

The  emphasis,  it  would  seem,  needs  to  he  placed  less 
on  the  origin,-!  1  pl;in,  notwithstanding  its  importance,  and 
more  on  replanning.  The  heautiful  cities  of  Europe,  those 
which  are  hcing  held  up  constantly  as  illustrations  of  what 
modern  cities  should  he,  are,  with  hut  few  exceptions,  the 
result  of  picturesque,  almost  accidental  growth,  regulated, 
it  is  true,  by  a  widespread  respect  for  art;  but  improved 
and  again  improved,  replanned  and  again  replanned.  It 
Is  here  that  we  f.ill  short.  Throughout  the  United  States 
there  are  cities  with  comparatively  easy  opportunities  to 
improve  their  water  frontages,  to  group  their  public  buildings, 
to  widen  their  main  streets,  to  provide  in  twentieth  century 
fashion  for  transportation,  and  to  set  aside  the  areas  neces- 
sary for  recreation.  Yet,  until  recently,  the  people  of  most  i 
of  these  cities  have  stood  listless,  without  the  business  sense,  ■ 
skill,  or  courage  to  begin  a  work  that  must  sooner  or  later 
be  done. 

SPECIFIC  NEEDS  OF  THE  SMALLER   CITIES 

Comprehensive  planning,  especially  with  our  present  lim- 
ited city  charters  and  the  hampering  laws  of  our  states, 
can  have  only  narrowly  limited  influence  in  larger  places, 
relieving  only  the  worst  civic  conditions,  ameliorating  merely 
the  most  acute  forms  of  congestion,  correcting  but  the 
gravest  mistakes  of  the  past.  Wide,  many-sided,  imagina- 
tive planning,  so  far  as  very  large  American  cities  are  con- 
cerned, must  be  confined  for  the  present  mainly  to  the 
extension  of  those  cities  and  tf)  the  betterment  <.A  what  are 
really  separate  communities  on  the  outskirts.  But  with 
smaller  cities  —  cities  with  a  population  ranging  from  2,500 
to  100,000 — the  case  Is  different.  Comprehensive  planning 
or    replanning   may   be    to    them    of    far-reaching   and    per- 

[9] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


manent  service.  There  is  scarcely  anything  in  the  smaller 
^  places  that  may  not  be  changed.  In  these  smaller  cities, 
for  example,  railroad  approaches  may  be  set  right;  grade 
crossings  eliminated ;  waterfronts  redeemed  for  commerce 
or  recreation,  or  both ;  open  spaces  acquired  even  in  partly 
built-up  sections;  a  satisfactory  street  plan  can  be  carried 
out  and  adequate  main  thoroughfares  established ;  public 
buildings  can  be  grouped  in  an  orderly  way;  and  a  park 
sj'stem  composed  of  well-distributed  and  well-balanced  pub- 
lic grounds  can  be  definitely  outlined  for  gradual  and  sys- 
tematic development.  All  of  these  elements  of  a  city  plan, 
indispensable  sooner  or  later  to  a  progressive  community, 
may  be  had  in  the  small  city  with  relative  ease  and  at 
slight  cost. 

MISCONCEPTIONS   ABOUT   CITY   PLANNING 

There  are  a  number  of  misconceptions  about  the  planning 
and  replanning  of  cities.  The  first  is  that  city  planning  is 
concerned  mainly  with  beauty.  The  term  which  carries 
and  gives  expression  to  this  misconception  is  "the  city  beau- 
tiful." It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  this  fundamental 
error  should  be  corrected.  Any  city  planning  that  is  worthy 
of  the  name  is  concerned  primarily  with  use  and  only 
incidentally  with  beauty.  But  if  there  is  a  reasonably  high 
standard  in  providing  the  useful  improvements  of  a  town 
or  city,  it  will  be  found  that  utility  and  beauty  are  virtually 
inseparable. 

Another  misconception,  although  not  so  widespread,  is 
nevertheless  important.  It  is  that  professional  planning 
would  tend  to  make  all  cities  and  towns  alike.  This  is  also 
far  from  the  truth.  Skilful  planning  should  emphasize 
individuality  for  a  city  just  as  true  education  does  for  a 
child.  It  should  unfold  and  perfect  its  natural  character- 
istics.    It  should  take  account  of  a  city's  topography,  pre- 

[lO] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

serve  its  natural  features,  echo  its  business  purposes,  express 
its  wealth,  give  form  to  its  traditions,  ideals  and  aspira- 
tions. A  city  plan  worthy  of  the  name  would  tend  to 
check  haphazard  drift  which  is  apt  to  make  a  city  common- 
place. It  would  hold  up  a  worthy  and  distinctive  ideal 
toward  which  all  improvements,  no  matter  how  small  or 
unimportant  themselves,  would  ultimately  contribute. 

HOW  TO  REPLAN  A  CITY 

The  first  step  in  the  replanning  of  towns  and  cities  is 
a  careful  study  of  the  underlying  conditions  —  physical,  busi- 
ness, and  social  conditions  —  a  study  that  is  often  termed 
"a  city  survey."  Whether  a  survey  of  such  conditions 
or  indeed  the  preparation  of  the  plan  itself,  should  be 
undertaken  by  private  or  public  authority,  cannot  be  an- 
swered dogmatically.  Local  circumstances  may  usually  be 
left  to  determine  this  question.  Such  work  is  undoubtedly 
public  work,  and  yet  the  appreciation  of  its  need  and 
value  is  apt  to  arise  at  first  in  a  comparatively  small  group 
of  persons,  often  a  group  not  entrusted  with  public  power. 
Reports  and  plans  are  often  made  for  voluntary  organiza- 
tions of  public-spirited  citizens  who  believe  that  in  this  way 
they  can  contribute  to  the  public  welfare.  The  move- 
ment for  city  planning  is  thus  following  the  precedent  of 
other  movements,  for  with  but  few  exceptions  advances 
in  the  United  States  have  first  been  undertaken  by  private 
individuals  or  organizations,  and  first  paid  for  by  private 
funds. 

The  landscape  architect  or  city  planner  is  apt  to  begin 
his  work  for  a  city  with  a  request  for  a  topographical 
map.  He  finds,  almost  invariably,  that  there  is  no  such 
map.  If  a  park  is  to  be  laid  out,  a  private  place,  or 
oftentimes  even  a  garden,  a  topographical  map,  giving  exact 
information  as  to  the   form  and  shape  of   the  ground  and 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


At  Avondale,  near  Birmingham,  Alabama 
Two-room  box  houses  for  cotton  mill  workers,  forming  a  de- 
pressing neighborhood  occupied  mainly  by  "poor  whites" 


other  ph}^sical  data,  is,  in  most  cases,  considered  indispen- 
sable. Yet,  for  a  city,  with  conditions  far  more  complex, 
a  topographical  map  is  seldom  to  be  had.  There  are  probably 
not  a  dozen  cities  in  the  United  States  that  have  topographi- 
cal surveys  of  any  real  value  as  a  basis  for  a  comprehensive 
city  plan.  It  is  true  that  the  topographical  maps  of  the 
United  States  government,  prepared  by  the  Geological  Sur- 
vey, can  be  had  for  cities  in  many  sections  of  the  country, 
but  the  scale  is  so  small  (usually  one  or  two  miles  to  an 
inch)  and  the  contour  interval  so  wide  (usually  20  feet 
or  more)  that  they  are  of  little  worth  to  the  city  planner. 
One  of  the  initial  requirements  in  the  replanning  of  cities, 
then,  is  the  preparation  of  topographical  maps  giving  full 
information  as  to  the  present  physical  conditions.  On  sucE 
a  map  there  would  be  placed  also  all  other  important  data 
controlling  or  affecting  the  city  plan. 


[12] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 


Housing  for  Steel  Workers  at  Fairfield,  Alabama 

Five-room  bungaloivs  for  skilled  luorkers  renting  for  $ig.SO 

to  ^2£,00  a  month.   Compare  with  the  shacks  of  Avondale 


BUSINESS   AND  SOCIAL   CONDITIONS 

Physical  facts,  however,  are  not  the  only  important  ones. 
Business  and  social  conditions,  past,  present  and  future,  also 
affect  the  city  plan.  One  of  the  first  questions  to  ask  is: 
Upon  what  does  the  particular  city  under  consideration  de- 
pend for  its  existence?  Is  it  primarily  industrial,  commer- 
cial, educational,  residential,  or  governmental?  Or,  in  what 
proportion  is  one  or  another  of  these  phases  dominant  ?  The 
answ^ers  to  these  and  similar  questions  affect  every  physical 
feature  of  the  city  plan,  determining  street  Avidths,  trans- 
portation facilities,  the  use  of  water  frontages,  the  char- 
acter of  housing,  and  so  on.  Then  in  the  study  of  business 
and  social  .conditions,  the  attempt  should  be  made  to  fore- 
cast future  requirements,  and  so  far  as  possible,  to  provide 
for  them.  These  conditions  must  be  looked  at  attentively. 
Facts  and  figures  must  be  gathered  patiently,  their  significance 
must  be  understood   and    interpreted,   and   their   tendencies 

[13] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


noted.  The  present  should  be  compared  with  the  past,  and 
the  view  of  the  future,  while  conservative,  should  be  broad 
and  enlightened. 

Economic  conditions  should  likewise  be  included  in  the 
local  survey,  for  example,  the  wealth  of  the  city  as  shown 
by  its  assessed  valuation  and  hy  a  list  of  city-owned  property, 
including  public  utilities.  Then  the  survey  should  present 
the  city's  bonded  indebtedness,  both  gross  and  net;  its  tax 
\    rate  and  other  sources  of  income.     Above  all  there  should 

1    be  a  searching  analysis  of  the  annual  budget. 

'\   ^, ■ — — " — 

CONTROLLING  PURPOSES  OF  A  CITY  PLAN 

When  as  full  a  knowledge  as  possible  has  been  obtained 
of  the  physical,  business,  social  and  economic  conditions 
of  a  city,  what  is  the  next  step  in  the  replanning  of  old 
areas  or  the  laying  out  of  the  new  ones?  Is  it  not  to 
determine  the  purposes  that  should  control  the  work,  and, 
having  found  them,  to  keep  them  steadily  in  mind?  Of 
course,  these  purposes  would  vary  from  city  to  city;  in  fact, 
they  sometimes  vary  in  the  same  city  from  period  to  period. 
I  shall  name  only  two  of  the  broader  aims  which  should 
control  city  planning,  but  under  these  are  included  many, 
if  not  most,  of  the  more  specific  purposes  which  properly 
inspire  and  regulate  civic  action. 

The  first  of  these  purposes  is  the  preservation  —  restora- 
^  tion,  if  need  be  —  and  the  further  development  of  the  in- 
dividuality of  the  city.  Its  history,  its  physical  situation, 
the  character  of  its  population,  the  direction  of  its  industry 
or  commerce,  all  of  these  should  be  appropriately  reflected 
in  the  city  plan.  Mr.  James  Bryce  has  pointed  out,  in  his 
American  Commonwealth,  that  the  one  most  serious  draw- 
back to  American  life  is  its  uniformity  and  that  this  crit- 
icism applies  especially  to  our  cities.  With  but  five  or  six 
exceptions,  he  says,  American  cities  differ  from  one  another 


r 


14] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 


Beaver   Brook,   Worcester,   Mass.,    Showing 
Improved  Channel 


only  that  some  are  built  more  with  brick  than  with  wood 
and  others  more  with  wood  than  with  brick.  A  French 
observer  supports  Mr.  Bryce  when  he  writes  that,  "These 
business  men,  who  are  occupied  with  constructing  a  whole 
Western  civilization  out  of  entirely  foreign  elements,  nat- 
urally make  it  in  the  image  of  the  American  character. 
Through  them  the  national  consciousness  projects  itself  in 
towns  and  enterprises  so  entirely  alike  that  travelers  com- 
plain of  it.  They  are  all  agreed  in  reproaching  this  coun- 
try for  its  cruel  monotony.  Some  humorist  or  other  has 
compared  American  things  to  hot-house  strawberries,  big 
as  apricots,  red  as  roses,  and  with  no  taste.  If  there  is 
any  truth  in  this  epigram,   it   is  the   fault  of  the  business 

[15] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


Geneva,   Switzerland,   Showing  Boathouses, 
Breakwater,  Piers  and  Promenades 

men.  Applying  to  all  products  everywhere  the  same  method 
of  indefinite  increase,  multiplying  the  workman  by  the 
machine,  continually  substituting  hasty  wholesale  work  for 
the  individual  and  delicate  task,  they  have,  in  fact,  ban- 
ished the  picturesque  from  their  republic.  All  these  great 
cities,  these-  great  buildings,  these  great  bridges,  these  great 
hotels,  are  alike." 

Such  criticism  becomes  more  pointed  if  we  recall  the 
older  cities  and  towns  of  Europe  and  contrast  them  with 
our  own.  What  is  the  explanation  of  this  absence  of  in- 
dividuality? In  some  localities  it  is  the  lack  of  an  historic 
past  and  of  mellow  memorials  and  buildings.  Most  of  it, 
however,  is  due  to  oversight,  or  to  indifference  to  oppor- 
tunities easily  within  our  control.  It  is  our  failure,  for 
example,  more  clearly  to  echo  topography  in  our  city  plans. 
The  rectangular  street  systems,  the  colorless  street  names, 
which  are  repeated  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the 
other,   regardless   of   natural    features  or  local  history,   are 

[i6] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

illustrations  of  our  neglect  of  easy  and  inexpensive  oppor- 
tunities to  give  individuality  to  our  cities.  There  is  like- 
wise failure  of  the  people  to  express  themselves  and  their 
ideals.  As  our  interest  in  human  life  is  in  the  distinctly 
personal,  so  is  our  interest  in  towns  and  cities.  We  should 
have  a  local  concept.  We  should  cherish  a  love  and  pride 
in  local  conditions  and  local  achievements.  Civic  art  fur- 
nishes the  most  available  and  most  adequate  means  of  ex- 
pressing these  local  customs  and  aspirations.  In  a  word, 
we  should  frame  a  concept,  an  ideal  of  what  we  wish  the 
city  to  be,  and  then  we  should  make  it  one  of  the  controlling 
purposes  in  the  development  of  the  city  plan. 

THE   COMMON   WELFARE 

Another  broad  purpose  that  should  control  all  city  plan- 
ning is  a  more  sensitive  regard  for  the  common  welfare. 
We  need  to  make  many  improvements  for  the  benefit  and 
enjoyment  of  everybody,  for  the  common  good.  Strong,  self- 
ish, almost  unchecked  individualism  still  has  its  sway  in  our 
cities,  and  many  of  the  evils  which  better  city  planning  may 
help  to  correct  are  due  to  this  cause.  For  example,  the 
faults  of  the  street  system,  the  ignorant  and  ugly  condition 
of  waterfronts,  the  failure  to  link  various  agencies  for 
transportation,  the  unsanitary  and  demoralizing  influences 
of  slums  —  these  represent  tlie  neglect  of  any  large  planning 
authority  to  control  and  check  rank  individualism  and  to 
exercise  collective  power  in  the  name  of  the  entire  com- 
munity. In  this  respect  how  striking  is  the  contrast  be- 
tween American  and  European  cities.  About  fifty  years  \ 
ago,  Europe  began  the  improvement,  replanning,  and  re- 
construction of  her  cities  to  meet  the  requirements  of 
modern  life.  Each  tity  acting  with  strong,  well-regulated 
collective  power,  endeavored  to  provide  facilities  for  whole- 
some physical  exercise,  for  transportation,  for  good  homes, 

[17] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 

for  convenient  opportunity  to  enjoy  the  beauty  and  wonder 
of  the  nature  \^orld,  and  for  a  more  intimate  knowledge 
of  noble  examples  of  human  life  and  beautiful  products 
of  human  work.  As  a  result  of  this  sort  of  planning,  fine 
city  streets,  orderly  railroad  approaches,  beautiful  public 
buildings,  open  green  squares  and  plazas,  refreshing  water- 
fronts, ennobling  statuary,  convenient  playgrounds,  numer- 
ous parks,  parkways  and  boulevards,  art  museums,  theaters, 
opera  houses,  and  concert'halls  —  all  these  things  in  Europe 
are  free,  or  so  nearly  free  that  they  are  easily  available  for 
all  the  people.  To  furnish  advantages  such  as  these  should 
be  one  of  the  controlling  purposes  of  city  planning,  for  they 
not  only  provide  wholesome  recreation  as  a  relief  from 
the  grind  and  fatigue  of  the  day's  work,  but  they  also  make 
a  definite  and,  in  the  long  run,  an  indispensable  contribu- 
tion toward  tomorrow's  efficiency. 

In  the  last  few  years  a  great  change  is  to  be  noted  in 
all/j)^rts  of  the  United  States.  The  field  of  collectivism 
is  being  steadily  extended  and  its  power  increased.  Dr. 
Charles  W.  Eliot  in  a  volume  entitled  The  Conflict  be- 
tween Individualism  and  Collectivism^  describes  this  change 
in  the  following  words:  "The  rise  and  growing  power  of 
collectivism  in  the  American  democracy  is  due  to  the  same 
influences  which  have  acted  on  the  European  nations, 
and  especially  on  the  English.  These  influences  have  been 
the  development  of  the  factory  system,  the  creation  of  cor- 
porations with  limited  liability,  the  rise  of  numerous  sci- 
entific and  artistic  professions,  the  exploitation  of  the 
natural  resources  of  new  countries  or  regions  by  capitalists 
coming  from  older  countries  or  regions,  and  the  creation  of 
unprecedented  inequalities  as  to  comfort  and  wealth,  not  as 
privileges  of  birth,  but  as  results,  first,  of  the  general 
liberty  and  the  prevailing  social  mobility,  and  secondly,  of 
the  transmission  of  education  and  property.     From  all  these 

[i8] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

influences  taken  together  there  have  appeared  !n  every 
democratic  society  in  the  world,  and  especially  in  the  Ameri- 
can democracy,  industrial  and  social  classes  or  layers  and 
strong  collective  action  in  every  class.     .     .     . 

"We  have  now  demonstrated  the  rapid  development  of 
collectivism  at  the  expense  of  individualism  in  three  great 
departments  of  personal  and  social  activity  —  industries,  edu- 
cation, and  government.  The  development  has  heen  con- 
structive, not  destructive,  inevitable  in  consequence  of  other 
profound  social  and  industrial  changes,  beneficial  in  the 
present,  and  hopeful  for  the  future.  It  tends  neither  to 
anarchy  nor  to  despotism.  Its  theory  is  accurately  stated  in 
such  accepted  sayings  as  these:  'Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor 
as  thyself ;  'As  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you  do  ye  also 
to  them  likewise';  'Nothing  human  is  foreign  to  me';  'We 
do  hold  ourselves  straightly  tied  to  all  care  of  each  other's 
good,  and  of  the  whole  by  every  one,  and  so  mutually';  'Each 
for  all,  and  all  for  each.'  Its  object  is  that  stated  in  the  pre- 
amble of  tlie  Federal  Constitution  — 'To  promote  the  general 
welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and 
our  posterity.'  " 

HOW  TO   GET  A   CITY   PLAN    INTO   ACTION 

Granting  that  means,  private  or  public,  can  be  found  to 
undertake  the  drafting  of  a  town  or  city  plan,  based  upon  a 
survey  of  local  conditions,  and  to  keep  planning  ahead ; 
granting  that  such  plans  can  be  prepared  with  proper  and 
well-defined  controlling  purposes,  coordinating  one  part  with 
another,  how  is  the  plan  to  be  put  in  action?  Have  Ameri- 
can cities  generally  the  powers  necessary  for  this  rather  new 
and  different  kind  of  city  making? 

The  charters  under  which  the  cities  of  the  United  States 
operate  vary  greatly,  and  in  general  they  convey  but  limited 
powers  as  compared  with  cities  of  Europe.     Most  cities,  how- 

[19] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


Site  of  Gary,  Indiana,  as  it  Appeared  in  1906 


Main  Street,  Gary,  Indiana,  in  1909 

The  United  States  Steel  Corporation  decided  to  locate  one 

of  its  important  plants  at  Gary.     The  result  in 

the  rapid  growth  of  the  toivn  is  illustrated 

by  a  comparison  of  these  two  views 

[20] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

ever,  have  large  powers  in  the  field  of  city  planning  which 
they  do  not  now  exercise.  The  first  change  should  be  to 
employ  to  better  advantage  the  existing  law.  If  they  would, 
the  City  Councils  of  many  cities  have  authority  to  transform 
their  towns  and  cities  by  administrative  action  alone.  In 
many  cities,  for  example,  the  city  government  has  ample 
power  to  inaugurate  a  much  better  system  of  laying  out  and 
constructing  streets  and  thoroughfares  and  of  meeting  the 
cost  of  such  improvements.  Where  the  city  charters  are 
inadequate,  the  aid  of  the  State  Legislature  must  be  in- 
voked. Such  legislation  has  already  been  sought  in  a  number 
of  states,  California,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  Massachusetts,  and 
Connecticut,  for  example,  and  easily  secured.  If  the  best 
results  are  to  be  obtained,  American  cities  must  have  a  larger 
measure  of  home  rule  and  a  degree  of  authority  approaching  ' 
that  granted  to  English  towns  and  cities  by  the  Housing  and  , 
Town  Planning  Act  of  1909. 

DOES   CITY   PLANxNING   PAY? 

Given  a  city  plan  with  the  necessary  administrative  ma- 
chinery to  revise  and  keep  it  up  to  date,  and  the  power  to 
execute  it,  we  must  meet  still  another  and  in  some  respects 
the  greatest  problem  of  city  planning — the  cost.  As  a  rule, 
the  first  question  asked  by  city  officials  and  business  men, 
when  more  comprehensive  city  planning  is  proposed,  is,  Does 
it  pay?  Three  points  may  be  given  in  answer  to  that 
question. 

In  the  first  place,  certain  things  are  indispensable  for 
every  city  —  suitable  streets,  thoroughfares,  public  buildings, 
homes,  and  an  adequate  number  of  playgrounds,  parks,  and 
open  spaces.  All  these  must  be  had  sooner  or  later.  It  is 
not  a  question  of  getting  them  or  of  not  getting  them.  It  is 
merely  a  question  of  when.  Short-sighted  citizens  often 
deceive  themselves  with  the  idea  that  they  are  saving  money 

[21] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


and  avoiding  expense  by  postponing  expenditures  for  these 
city  necessities,  for  necessities  they  are.  Observation  and 
experience  in  such  matters  prove  that  this  is  a  mistaken  view. 
By  such  postponement  they  are  merely  increasing  public 
expenses,  increasing  the  kind  of  burden  from  which  the 
majority  of  American  cities  are  suffering  today.  Simply  be- 
cause the  value  of  land  in  growing  cities  steadily  increases 
in  price,  because  street  widening  and  the  clearing  of  properties 
for  playgrounds  and  open  spaces  involve  the  destruction  of 
more  and  more  improvements  as  the  years  go  on,  and  be- 
cause the  constant  rebuilding  of  public  edifices  costs  more 
than  an  adequate  building  properly  and  permanently  located 
at  first  v/ould  have  cost — simply  because  of  such  facts  as  these 
is  postponement  a  costly  practice.  Specific  illustrations  could 
be  given  from  a  dozen  cities  to  enforce  each  one  of  these 
statements. 

Secondly,  it  should  be  kept  in  mind  tliat  cities  must  choose 
usually  between  one  form  of  expenditure  or  another.  The 
people  of  a  city  may  prefer  to  pay  the  direct  and  indirect  cost 
of  epidemics  like  typhoid  fever,  pneumonia  and  Spanish  in- 
fluenza rather  than  increase  the  outlay  for  pure  water,  better 
housing,  sewers,  and  other  forms  of  sanitation.  They  may 
elect  to  pay  the  bills  resulting  from  an  inadequate  street 
system  for  traffic  and  the  convenient  circulation  of  men  and 
goods,  rather  than  make  the  loans  and  annual  appropriations 
required  by  the  adoption  of  a  more  up-to-date  method  of 
locating  and  improving  streets  and  highways.  But  does  it 
pay?  These  same  unreflecting  individuals  may  prefer  to 
lay  out  the  money  that  they  must  lay  out  for  ignorant,  in- 
efficient, diseased  and  deformed  children,  for  hospitals, 
asylums,  and  reformatories,  rather  than  meet  the  smaller 
expense  of  adequate  schools,  school  grounds  and  playgrounds. 
It  costs  only  $800  to  educate  a  normal  boy  in  the  Boston 
schools  for  twelve  years,  or  less  than  $70  a  year.     On  the 

[22] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  J'lLLAGES 

other  hand,  it  costs  $400  to  take  care  of  a  bad  boy  in  a 
Massachusetts  reformatory  for  one  year.  Which  is  cheaper, 
to  say  nothing  of  better?  Massachusetts  spends  on  criminals 
10  per  cent  of  all  her  taxes.  Is  it  not  time  that  we  had  the 
same  kind  of  sanity  in  public  expenditures  that  we  have  in 
private  expenditures?  It  ought  to  be  plain  to  a  thrifty 
citizen  and  taxpayer  that  city  planning,  as  now  understood, 
proposes  not  only  a  better  method  but  also,  in  the  end,  a 
cheaper  method. 

In  the  third  place,  let  it  be  frankly  confessed  how  narrow 
and  sordid  this  line  of  reasoning  is.  Cities  pay  heavily  for  a 
mean  and  unbusinesslike  policy  in  many  ways  that  cannot 
be  exactly  described  or  put  into  dollars  and  cents,  but  which 
business  men  and  city  officials  understand  very  well.  The 
essential  question  is  not  one  of  cost,  the  attempt  to  balance 
the  expense  of  better  planning  against  increased  revenues 
resulting  from  it.  At  bottom  the  question  is  whether  real 
values  in  public  welfare  are  to  be  had  from  this  sort  of  city 
planning,  and  whether  the  community  can  provide  the  ways 
and  means  necessary  to  purchase  these  values.  The  central 
and  all-important  problem  of  the  cities  is  the  budget:  how 
to  spend  honestly,  liberally,  efficiently,  and  promptly  for  the( 
protection  of  life,  health,  and  property,  and  for  the  advance- 
ment of  civilization,  and  how  to  levy  for  these  expenditures 
upon  the  advantage  fund  created  by  the  community  life  in 
such  a  manner  that  taxation  shall  not  breed  fresh  inequality, 
injustice,  and  civic  disloyalty. 

It  may  be  added  that  whether  we  care  about  health,  or 
wholesome  and  refreshing  recreation,  or  beauty  in  civic  life; 
or  whether  we  care  only  for  the  increase  of  industrial  wealth 
and  commercial  prosperity,  we  must,  sooner  or  later,  turn 
for  aid  to  this  subject  of  comprehensive  coordinated  city 
planning.  While  not  a  panacea,  it  offers  one  safe  and  sure 
way  out  of  many  of  our  municipal  difficulties. 

[23] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


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[24] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 
PART  II 

Town  and  City  Planning 

THE    general    principles    which    should    govern    the  [ 
preparation  of  a  city  plan  may  be  stated  as  follows:  \ 
( I )  economy  and  the  saving  of  waste  in  an  endeavor  ! 
to  secure  the  desired  results  at  a  minimum  of  expense;  (2)  j 
reasonable  regard  for  the  interests  of  the  property  owner,  the 
taxpayer,  and   the  general  public;    (3)    anticipation  within 
proper  limits  of  the  requirements  of  the  future  and  provision 
for  them. 

Chapter  I 

Definition  and  Scope 

City  Planning  has  been  well  defined  as  the  intelligent  A 
control  and  guidance  of  the  physical  conformation,  growth 
and  alteration  of  cities,  towns,  or  parts  thereof,  considered 
in  their  entirety.  Or,  more  briefly,  the  organization  of  the 
physical  city,  town  or  district  to  fit  it  to  its  complex  use. 
It  includes  the  planning  of  cities,  towns,  suburbs,  villages,  and 
even  rural  districts.  The  material  included  in  this  handbook 
is  treated  primarily  with  relation  to  the  city  plan  and  its  ele- 
rrie^its.  In  general  it  follows  the  definition  as  given  above, 
and  the  order  of  the  classification  published  by  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, which  has  provided  an  admirable,  comprehensive 
analysis  of  the  subject.  This  classification  itself  is  an  im- 
pressive record  of  the  magnitude  of  the  field  of  city  planning. 

The  approach  to  city  planning  is  now,  and  probably  always 
will  be,  from  many  points  of  view.  No  matter  how  the  direc- 
tions of  approach  and  hence  the  points  of  view  may  differ, 
the  organization  of  the  m/)dern  city  for  economy,  health, 
efficiency  and  beauty  will  remain  essentially  the  same.  There- 
fore~a  comorehensive  classification  such  as  that  set  forth  by    ^ 

[2S] 


Ni'JV  inEAi.s  IN  rni'.  i'lanninc;  or 


Harvard  University  will  he  useful  alike  to  the  municipal 
official,  the  business  administrator,  tlic  engineer,  the  expert 
in  sanitation,  tlur  architect,  the  landscape  architect,  and  the 
city  planner. 

It  is  not  possible  ir»  a  relatively  brief  handbtjok  to  f^ive 
anythinfi;  pretending  to  be  a  complete  presentation  of  city 
j)lanninfj;.  The  atteni|)t  is  here  made,  however,  to  give  a 
comi)rehensivc  jiresentation  of  the  main  ideas  and  to  retain  a 
proper  scale  and  eini)hasis  in  the  treatment  of  the  subject  by 
a  careful  .ipportionmcnt  of  the  space  allotted  to  each  part 
of  flic  subject. 

'I'he  principal  toi)ics  included  are  the  following:  the  city 
I)lanning  movement;  the  local  survey  as  a  basis  for  city  plan- 
ning; the  essential  elements  of  city  plans,  including  streets 
and  roads,  street  railways,  steam  railroads,  commercial 
walerv\ays  and  water fr(jnts,  the  subdivision  of  the  land 
and  real  estate  developinent,  the  division  of  a  city  into  zones 
or  districts,  parks,  playgrounds,  and  other  public  open  spaces, 
public  and  semi-public  structures  and  city  planning  aspects 
of  housing;  types  of  city  plans;  legislation  and  organization; 
the  (in;iii(ing  of  city  |ilamiliig  projects;  professional  training 
for  city  planning  work;  new  tf)wns  and  new  standards,  and 
the  promise  of  the  future. 

'["hroughnut  the  handbook  there  will  be  brief  references 
to  books  and   other   |)ublicati(tns  dealing  with  special    topics. 


[26] 


CITIES,  TO^NS  /INI)  y  ILL  ACES 


(Ihaplcr  2 

The  City   Planning  Movement 

The  modern  inovement  for  city  planning  in  the  United 
States  may  be  said  to  have  bcj^un  about  1890,  with  a  special 
stimulus  along  certain  lines  in  iH'j.'i  throu^';h  the  iri(iucni(;  of 
the  World's  Fair  at  Chicaf^o.  A  hir{j;e  amount  (if  city  plan- 
ninf^,  much  of  it  u{  a  lii}i;h  order,  was  done  earlier.  In  no 
sense,  however,  did  it  represent  a  movement  —  it  was  not 
widespread,  and  it  was  not  ccmtinuous  or  persistent, 

Notable  examples  of   earlier   city   planninj^  are:   William    , 
Penn's  plan    for    Philadelphia    in    i68i,   and    the    phms    f<jr 
other  Pennsylvania  cities,   like  Reading.';,  for  instance,  which    \ 
were  connected  with  it;  the  plan  of  Williamsburg,  Va.,  in 
1699;  Oglethorpe's  |)Ian   {ux  Savannah,   in    17.13;  the  great 
plan  of  Iv'Knfant   for   Washingtr>n,    \).   C,   in    1790;  other/ 
plans  due  t(j  the  influence  of  L'Knfrmt  or  his  associates,  as 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  and  Erie,  Pa.;  the  plan  for  New  York  City 
in   1H07.     All  of  tlicsc  plans  were  u{  a  spasmodic  character, 
(if  the  "once  for  all"  tyjic,  without  any  adetjuate  jirovision  for 
systematic  revision  and  extension. 

The  period  frfim  the  early  part  fif  the  nineteenth  century 
until  the  last  decade  fif  that  century  was  one  in  which  the 
planning  of  cities,  like  the  architectural  planning  of  build- 
ings, and,  in  fact,  like  municipal  government  itself,  was  at  a 
hiw  point,  characterixed  by  few  results  fif  a  desirable  type. 
It  was  during  this  period  largely  that  the  western  cities 
adopted  checkerboard  plans  fif  the  nifist  cfiinrnfinplace  ffirm, 
without  any  real  recognition  of  the  refjuirements  fif  streets 
and    transportation,    nfir    the   necessity    to    preserve   natural 

[27] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


najw.;,iifmmn.^9fS^i:iiv  mv }^9^^_ imnyi|||i|y..»4ppp)^jgp!,iyi^j^ 


Hospital,  U.  S,  Steel  Corporation,  Gary,  Indiana 


features,  nor  to  set  aside  public  open  spaces,  nor  to  take  care 
of  the  economic  and  industrial  problems  involved  in  the 
improvement  of  waterways  and  water  fronts. 

The  more  direct  sources  of  the  present  city  .planning  move- 
ment have  been  many.  Among  the  most  important  which 
should  be  mentioned  are  the  following:  the  influence  of  the 
plan  of  1 87 1  for  New  York  City,  which  showed  not  only 
highways,  but  a  system  of  rapid  transit  railroads  free  from 
grade  crossings  with  the  streets;  the  appointment  of  the 
Boston  Board  of  Survej's  in  1891  ;  the  Boston  Metropolitan 
Park  Commission  in  1892;  the  World's  Fair  Exposition  at 
Chicago  in  1893;  the  establishment  of  the  school  of  land- 
scape architecture  of  Harvard  University  in  1900;  the  work 
of  Daniel  H.  Burnham,  Charles  F.  McKim,  Augustus  Saint 
Gaudens,  and  Frederick  Law  Olmsted,  Jr.,  in  the  report  of 
the  Senate  Committee  on  the  District  of  Columbia,  in  1902; 
the  plan  of  Chicago  prepared  under  the  direction  of  the  Com- 

[28] 


CITIES.  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

mercial  Club,  1906-8,  by  Burnham  and  Bennett;  and  the 
creation  of  a  Committee  on  a  City  Plan  by  the  Board  of  Esti- 
mate and  Apportionment  of  New  York  City  in  191 4,  with 
the  problem  of  districting  the  city  as  an  important  feature; 
and  the  making  of  a  large  number  of  general  plans  and 
reports  for  the  smaller  cities. 

The  background  of  these  definite  projects  was  the  rapid 
growth  of  cities,  a  nation-wide  civic  awakening,  the  im- 
provement of  the  form  and  character  of  city  government,  the 
establishment  of  public  service  commissions,  the  organization 
of  local  improvement  societies,  civic  bodies,  women's  clubs, 
chambers  of  commerce  and  boards  of  trade. 

A  great  influence  was  also  exercised  by  the  rapid  and 
substantial  progress  of  town  planning  in  Europe.  Soon 
after  the  Franco-Prussian  war,  the  German  cities,  beginning 
with  those  in  Prussia,  went  to  work  systematically  to  im- 
prove their  municipalities.  Much  planning  was  done,  and 
publications  of  value  were  issued.  Other  European  coun- 
tries, especially  France  and  Belgium  and  Austria,  achieved 
success  in  the  replanning  of  towns  and  cities  for  modern  life. 
Especial  mention  should  be  made  of  the  passage  of  the 
English  Housing  and  Town  Planning  Act  in  1909,  which 
provided  a  suggestive  method  of  procedure  for  Canada  and 
the  United  States. 

A  clearing-house  for  city  planning  ideas  and  an  effective 
means  of  stimulating  and  directing  the  movement  was 
secured  by  the  organization  of  the  National  Conference  on 
City  Planning  in  1 909,  which  has  continued  its  work  to 
date,  holding  an  annual  conference,  publishing  its  proceed- 
ings and  a  quarterly  entitled  "The  City  Plan"  and  carrying 
on  correspondence. 

The  ideas  of  most  significance  in  the  modern  city  plan- 
ning movement  are:  the  increasing  dependence  of  the  indi- 
vidual   upon    the    prosperity   of    the   city   as   a   whole;    the 

[29] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


Importance  of  planning,  not  merely  for  the  routine  require- 
ments, but  also  for  those,  of  the  future;  and  the  necessity, 
for  reasons  of  economy  as  well  as  success,  to  coordinate  the 
planning  of  the  various  features  so  that  the  improvements 
to  be  carried  out  will  be  well  related,  one  to  another,  far- 
seeing  and  permanent. 

The  city  planning  movement  in  the  United  States,  and 
in  the  various  cities  which  take  it  up,  has  usually  three 
phases.  There  is  first  the  propaganda,  which  expresses  itself 
mainly  in  rather  vague  discussion.  That  is  followed  often 
by  the  preparation  of  a  report  and  a  general  plan  submitting 
more  or  less  definite  proposals  based  upon  a  preliminary 
study,  and  resulting  as  a  rule  only  in  tentative  suggestions. 
Frequently  as  a  direct  result  of  this  general  planning,  how- 
ever, detailed  plans  and  construction  drawings  for  definite 
improvements  follow.  This  third  stage  is  apt  to  be  some- 
what ineffective,  unless  suitable  local  machinery  is  secured 
in  the  form  of  a  planning  board  or  city  plan  commission 
with  some  real  power,  and  an  appropriation  with  which  to  do 
its  work. 

An  excellent  outline  of  "How  to  Organize  a  City  Plan- 
ning Campaign,"  by  Frederick  Law  Olmsted,  has  been 
published  in  The  American  City  pamphlets.  It  gives  the 
basic  idea  of  city  planning,  the  city  plan  office  of  the  future, 
a  city  survey  as  the  basis  for  a  plan,  and  physical  accomplish- 
ment as  the  final  step.  The  American  City  has  also  published 
a  list  of  American  city  planning  reports  printed  from  1900 
to  1914  inclusive.  A  valuable  report  on  what  has  been  accom- 
plished has  been  published  by  the  American  Institute  of 
Architects,  under  the  title  of  "City  Planning  Progress." 


[30] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 


Chapter  J 

Local  Data  as  Basis  for  City  Plan 

The  local  survey,  or  the  civic  survey,  as  it  is  usually 
termed  when  prepared  for  use  in  connection  with  the  city 
plan,  may  be  defined  as  the  collection,  compilation,  interpre- 
tation and  presentation  of  all  the  facts  and  information  bear- 
ing upon  the  city's  physical,  social,  economic,  and  financial 
condition. 

The  civic  survey  is  one  of  the  four  main  divisions  of  suc- 
cessive stages  of  city  building,  or  city  development.  These 
main  divisions  may  be  set  down  as  follows : 

1.  A  survey  of  existing  conditions  and  tendencies. 

2.  General  plans  and  recommendations. 

3.  Detail  and  construction  plans. 

4.  Maintenance  and  administration. 

The  degree  to  which  the  local  survey  should  be  carried 
depends  largely  upon  the  degree  to  which  it  is  likely  to  be 
used.  It  is  not  an  end  in  itself.  As  indicated  above,  it  is 
made  to  serve  certain  purposes.  At  the  present  time  there 
is  great  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  extent  and  elaborate- 
ness of  the  local  survey.  For  example,  the  Massachusetts 
Homestead  Commission  has  drawn  up  a  form  for  the  local 
survey  comprising  items  covering  sixteen  printed  pages.  As 
a  contrast,  Mr.  Thomas  Adams  has  reduced  the  survey  to 
three  items  as  follows,  which  he  terms  the  absolute  minimum : 
( I )  topographical  map,  showing  contours  at  intervals  of  5 
feet  to  25  feet,  existing  streets,  buildings  and  physical  fea- 
tures, etc.;  (2)  maps  of  sewers,  water  and  gas  mains;  (3) 
map  showing  traffic  conditions  and   growth   of  population, 

[31] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


Reservoir  and  Masonry  Water  Tower,  Forbes  Hill, 

QuiNCY,  Mass. 


and  indicating  generally  the  location  of  factories,  parks,  etc. 
An  outline   of    intermediate   length   suitable   for   smaller 
cities  (say  100,000  population  or  less)  is  as  follows: 

I.  Physical  Conditions. 

A.  Topography. 

1.  All  available  surveys  of  city. 

2.  Government  surveys  of  district. 

3.  Surveys  of  adjacent  towns. 

4.  Detail  surveys  by  city  or  government. 

B.  Resources  and  Climate. 

1.  Range  of  temperature. 

2.  Rainfall. 

3.  Direction  of  winds. 

4.  Natural  resources. 

5.  Plan  showing  open  land  available  for  various  pur- 

poses. 

[32] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 


The  Craig  Goch  Dam,  Elan  River,  Wales 

Neiu  ivorks  for  the  water  supply  of  Birmingham,  England. 

Note  the  inviting  roads,  built  chiefly  for  the 

pleasure  of  the  public 


C.  Areas  and  Zones. 

1.  Present  occupation  of  land. 

2.  Wooded  areas. 

3.  City-owned  land. 

4.  Field    map    with    notes    on   existing    conditions    and 

opportunities. 

II.  Social  Conditions. 
A.  Housing. 

1.  Typical  lot  and  block  plans. 

2.  Typical  house  plans. 

[33] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  TEIE  PLANNING  OF 


3.  Examples  of  good,  bad  and  average  housing. 

4.  Over-built-upon  land. 

B.  Occupation. 

1.  Business  distribution. 

2.  Factory  distribution. 

C.  Health. 

1.  Vital  statistics. 

2.  Density  of  population. 

D.  Education. 

1.  School  distribution. 

2.  Density  of  school  population. 

3.  School  statistics. 

E.  Recreation. 

1.  Park  and  playground  map. 

2.  Park  and  playground  statistics. 

3.  Other  open  spaces. 

F.  Welfare. 

1.  Special  schools. 

2.  Social  centers. 

3.  Charities  and  correction. 

G.  Safety. 

1.  Fire  hazard. 

2.  Grade  crossings. 

3.  Charities  and  correction. 

III.  Economic  Conditions. 
A.  Streets. 

1.  Accepted  and  proposed  sticcts. 

2.  Actually  laid  out. 

3.  Street  widths. 

4.  Street  sections. 

5.  Street  grades. 

[34] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

B.  Transportation. 

1.  Railroad  map  —  steam  and  electric. 

2.  Water  transportation. 

3.  Measurement  of  cars,  vehicles,  vessels,  etc. 

4.  Traffic  census  (selected  points). 

C.  Public  Utilities. 

1.  Water  supply. 

2.  Disposal  of  waste. 

3.  Slaughter  houses. 

4.  Other  utilities  —  lighting,  telephone,  etc. 

D.  Food  Supply. 

1.  Wholesale  and  retail  districts  or  centers. 

2.  Distribution. 

E.  Real  Estate. 

1.  Land  values   (assessed  and  actual). 

2.  Building  values. 

3.  Building  heights. 

4.  Building  growth. 

5.  General  tendency. 

F.  Nuisances. 

1.  Smoke. 

2.  Noise. 

3.  Dust. 

4.  Billboards. 

5.  Overhead  wires. 

Gf  Administration. 

I.  Diagram  showing  responsibility  of  various  officials. 

[35] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 
IV.  Financial  and  Legal  Conditions. 

A.  Financial. 

1.  Budget  items. 

2.  Costs  per  capita. 

3.  Comparison  with  other  cities. 

4.  Methods  and  rates  of  taxation. 

B.  Legal. 

1.  Building  laws. 

2.  City  planning  laws. 

3.  Building  lines. 

4.  Regulations  and  restrictions. 

5.  Unused  powers. 

6.  City  planning  board. 

PREPARING  A  CIVIC  SURVEY 

In  the  preparation  of  a  civic  survey  there  are  four  more 
or  less  distinct  steps,  as  follows: 

1.  The  drafting  of  a  questionnaire. 

2.  The  collection  of  data,  maps,  surveys,  etc. 

3.  The  interpretation  of  the  data,  maps,  surveys,  etc. 

4.  The  presentation  of  the  results,  preferably  in  graphic 
form. 

( 1 )  The  determination  of  the  length  and  elaborateness 
of  the  survey  rests  largely  with  the  questionnaire.  A  good 
illustration  of  a  very  thorough  questionnaire  is  given  in  the 
"Report  of  Suggested  Plan  of  Procedure  for  Jersey  City," 
by  George  B.  Ford  and  E.  P.  Goodrich.  Another  illustra- 
tion, less  lengthy,  is  that  of  "City  Planning  for  Pittsburgh, 
Outline  and  Procedure,"  by  Bion  J.  Arnold,  John  R.  Free- 
man, and  Frederick  Law  Olmsted. 

(2)  The  collection  of  data  is  illustrated  in  the  "Prelimi- 
nary City  Planning  Report  of  Bridgeport,  Conn.,"  by  John 
Nolen.     The  traffic  count  in  connection  with  the  proposed 

[36] 


CITIES,  TOIVNS  AND  VILLAGES 

Stratford  Avenue  Bridge,  described  in  detail,  shows  what  a 
valuable  basis  the  local  survey  may  furnish  for  a  costly  city 
planning  project.  Another  and  somewhat  different  illustra- 
tion from  the  same  report  is  the  study  of  the  stages  of 
development  of  the  Reilley  Street  Block.  The  survey  here 
consists  partly  of  definite  facts  with  regard  to  the  changes  in 
assessed  valuation,  the  number  of  people  on  a  given  lot, 
rents,  income,  etc.,  and  partly  of  local  opinion  gathered  from 
various  sources  as  to  the  reasons  for  changes  of  occupancy,  the 
succession  of  nationalities,  the  number  of  buildings  con- 
structed, etc. 

(3)  One  of  the  most  important  parts  of  the  local  survey 
is  the  interpretation  of  the  data.  There  is  often  a  tempta- 
tion to  read  our  own  conclusions  into  the  facts,  instead  of 
interpreting  the  facts  impartially.  Interesting  illustrations 
of  the  interpretation  of  local  data  and  surveys  can  be  had 
from  the  range  of  land  values  maps  prepared  for  Cambridge, 
Mass.,  and  for  Bridgeport.  Some  of  the  conclusions  were 
as  follows:  that  land  values  in  general  over  the  entire  city 
have  become  high  along  relatively  wide,  through  streets; 
that  values  are  high  in  areas  adjacent  to  public  parks,  where 
surroundings  are  assured;  that  protected  and  restricted  resi- 
dential sections  usually  have  higher  values  than  the  districts 
surrounding  them;  that  the  overcrowding  of  residential  sec- 
tions sometimes  results  in  higher  and  sometimes  in  lower 
land  values. 

(4)  The  presentation  of  the  results  of  the  local  survey 
should  be  accurate,  clear  and  interesting.  In  making  them 
interesting,  the  chief  factor  is  the  use  of  graphic  means. 
This  method  is  being  increasingly  employed  with  unusually 
good  results.  Statistics  and  data  are  much  increased  in  use- 
fulness if  shown  graphically  on  maps  and  diagrams.  Graphics 
convey  information  directly  to  tlie  mind.  They  facilitate  the 
comprehension  of  relationships.     We  may  thus  portray  by 

[37] 
,'573661 


I 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 

simple  methods  whole  masses  of  data,  and  so  illuminate  the 
material  of  the  civic  survey.  Where  graphic  means  are  not 
employed,  the  statistical  tables,  no  matter  how  complete  or 
valuable,  are  apt  to  receive  little  attention. 

A  somewhat  specialized  form  of  local  survey,  but  closely 
connected  with  city  planning,  is  the  industrial  survey.  With 
the  increase  in  the  activities  of  chambers  of  commerce  and 
boards  of  trade  there  comes  a  demand  from  the  business  men 
for  reliable  information  with  regard  to  what  may  be  done 
in  the  way  of  bettering  industrial  and  living  conditions. 

The  advantages  of  an  industrial  survey  are  the  following: 
( I )  It  gives  accurate  information  with  regard  to  the  city's 
industries;  (2)  the  reasons  for  and  against  certain  industries 
in  a  given  city;  (3)  the  education  of  the  people  of  the  com- 
munity with  regard  to  their  own  industries;  (4)  the  existing 
industries  which  are  most  susceptible  to  expansion. 

One  of  the  chief  functions  of  city  planning  is  to  estimate 
and  provide  for  the  future  of  cities.  In  the  attempt  to  do 
this  with  reasonable  success,  the  local  survey  contributes  the 
most  valuable  basis.  It  gives  the  increase  of  population,  the 
growth  of  building  operations,  the  distribution  of  building 
permits,  the  range  of  land  values,  the  various  successive 
stages  of  development  of  lots  and  blocks,  the  volume  and 
increase  of  traffic  at  selected  points,  the  comparison  of 
methods  and  costs  of  one  city  with  another,  etc.  These  are 
the  facts  which  a  trained  and  experienced  planner  can  use 
to  discover  the  operating  causes  and  the  probable  future  con- 
ditions of  a  given  city.  With  these  as  a  basis,  it  is  possible  to 
outline  a  policy  and  a  program  of  development  and  con- 
struction that  ought  to  prove  a  valuable  guide  for  a  period 
of  at  least  twenty  or  twenty-five  years. 

Among  the  best  publications  dealing  with  the  local  survey 
may  be  mentioned :  "The  City  Survey  Preparatory  to  Town 
Planning,"  by  the  Sociological  Society,   London,   England ; 

[38] 


CITIES.  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

"The  Civic  Survey  of  Edinburgh"  and  "City  Surveys  for 
Town  Planning  and  the  Greater  Cities,"  by  Professor  Pat- 
rick Geddes;  "Knowing  One's  Own  Community,"  by  Carol 
Aronovici;  "The  Survey  for  a  City  Plan,"  by  James  S.  Pray; 
"The  Social  Survey"  and  "A  Bibliography,"  by  the  Depart- 
ment of   Surveys   and   Exhibits,   Russell   Sage   Foundation; 
"The  Survey  of  Public  and  Social  Recreation  in  Kansas  City, 
Mo." ;  "The  Civic  Survey  and  City  Plan  of  Akron,  Ohio," 
by  John  Nolen,  and  a  chapter  in  City  Planning  on  "Fun-  , 
damental  Data  as  a  Basis  fur  City  Planning,"  by  George  B.  ,' 
Ford,   in   the  series  published   by   the   National   Municipal^ 
League. 


[39] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


Chapter  4 

Types  of  City  Plans 

The  classification  of  cities  according  to  the  type  or  charac- 
ter of  the  city  plan  may  be  considered  under  three  heads: 
(i)  types  distinguished  by  the  style  of  the  plan;  (2)  types 
distinguished  by  dominant  function;  (3)  types  distinguished 
by  size. 

Most  cities  can  trace  their  origin  to  military,  trading,  or 
commercial  requirements.  In  the  foundation  of  Greek  cities, 
for  example,  four  distinct  periods  have  been  noted.  In  the 
first  of  these  the  city  was  planned  as  a  place  of  refuge  against 
hostile  attack.  In  the  second,  its  chief  use  was  in  the  develop- 
ment of  trade.  In  the  third,  artistic  embellishment  was  the 
leading  feature.  And  the  fourth  period  embraces  the  time 
of  the  decline. 

Cities  generally  owe  their  existence  to  geography,  and 
such  individuality  as  they  have  is  due  largely  to  topography. 
The  chief  topographical  characteristics  determining  cities 
are  the  sea,  rivers,  hills  and  plains.  It  has  taken  decades  of 
urban  development  and  of  mistakes  to  impress  upon  the  cities 
of  the  United  States  the  necessity  of  respecting  and  conserv- 
ing these  natural  features,  to  which  they  owe  not  only  their 
form,  but  often  their  very  life. 

Cities  that  have  been  laid  out  upon  preconceived  plans  may 
be  broadly  divided  into  two  classes:  the  first  is  the  radial 
system,  or  what  is  often  called  the  spider's  web  plan;  the 
second,  the  rectangular  or  gridiron  plan. 

The  radial  type  has  been  most  common  in  Europe.  The 
rectangular  or  checkerboard  type  has  been  used  widely  in  the 

[40] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

United  States  and  in  new  colonies  generally.     It  would  not 
be  difficult  to  show  that  from  the  point  of  view  of  traffic 
facilities,  as  well  as  city  attractiveness,  the  radial  system  has 
proved  the  better  one  in  use.     An  interesting  criticism  of  the 
limitations  of  the  rectangular  plan  adopted  for  New  York 
City  by  the  Commission  of   1807  has  been  given  by  F.  L. 
Olmsted,  Sr.,  in  which  he  says,  "Some  two  thousand  blocks 
were  provided,  each  theoretically  two  hundred  feet  wide,  no 
more,  no  less;  and  ever  since,  if  a  building  site  is  wanted, 
whether  with  a  view  to  a  church  or  a  blast  furnace,  an  open 
house  or  a  toy  shop,  there  is,  of  intention,  no  better  place 
in  one  of  these  blocks  than  another.     ...     If  a  proposed 
cathedral,    military   depot,    great   manufacturing   enterprise, 
house  of  religious  seclusion  or  seat  of  learning  needs  a  space 
of  ground  more  than  sixty-six  yards  in  extent  from  north  to 
south,   the  system   forbids   that   it   shall   be   built   in    New 
York.     .     .     .     There  is  no  place  in  New  York  where  a 
stately  building  can  be  looked  up  to  from  base  to  turret,  none 
where  it  can  even  be  seen  full  in  the  face  and  all  at  once 
taken  in  by  the  eye ;  none  where  it  can  be  viewed  in  advanta- 
geous perspective.     .     .     .     Such   distinctive  advantage  of 
position  as  Rome  gives  St.  Peter's,  London  St.  Paul's,  New 
York  under  her  system  gives  to  nothing." 

A  combination  of  the  radial  and  rectangular  systems  has 
many  advantages,  and  is  particularly  adaptable  to  the  addi- 
tion of  new  areas  to  old  cities.  The  plan  of  the  city  of 
Washington  is  an  interesting  study  of  the  combination  of 
the  chess-board  and  the  radial  systems. 

SEEKING  NATURAL  CONDITIONS 

It  Is  not  likely,  however,  that  we  shall  find  in  any  "sys-  ( 
tern"  the  correct  method  of  dealing  with  the  traffic  require-  J 
ments  of  cities  in  the  future.     If  they  are  to  be  fulfilled,  no 
purely  rectangular  or  radiating  system  is  likely  to  be  of  great 
use.     "Success  in  town  planning,"   writes  Dr.  J.  Stiibbe 

[41I 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


[42J 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

the  eminent  German  engineer  and  writer,  "is  more  likely 
to  be  attained  by  seeking  out  the  natural  topographical  con- 
ditions. A  full  consideration  for  the  levels,  roads,  and 
boundaries  must  be  the  basis  upon  which  all  schemes  must 
rest,  and  these  considerations  can  only  be  left  out  of  account 
if  they  become  antagonistic  to  the  legitimate  requirements  of 
traffic  and  town  extension,  or  for  economic  or  esthetic  rea- 
sons. The  closer  a  town  plan  adheres  to  the  natural  condi- 
tions, the  more  original  and  attractive  it  will  be.  The  filling 
in  of  the  secondary  roads  to  the  main  network  of  thorough- 
fares should  be  approximately  rectangular,  because  the  rect- 
angle is  the  most  convenient  form  of  building  block,  and 
for  the  actual  traffic  requirements  the  diagonal  system  can 
always  be  resorted  to.  The  radial  form  of  arrangement  is 
advisable  for  important  focal  points ;  town  gateways,  railway 
stations,  the  approaches  and  similar  situations.  Curved 
streets  adapt  themselves  as  a  rule  better  to  hilly  ground  than 
straight  ones;  for  wide  vistas,  distant  perspectives,  and 
grand  monumental  effects  the  straight  line  asserts  itself.  The 
day  has  gone  by  for  the  unqualified  employment  of  definite 
systems ;  henceforth  they  should  not  play  a  ruling  but  a  sub- 
sidiary role." 

The  classification  of  cities  according  to  the  types  distin- 
guished by  dominant  functions  includes  government  cities, 
such  as  national  or  state  capitals ;  commercial  cities,  industrial 
cities,  residential  cities,  especially  those  serving  as  resorts; 
garden  cities;  and  ideal  types,  as  for  example  the  city  pro- 
posed by  Mr.  H.  C.  Andersen  of  Rome,  Italy,  or  the  city 
planned  in  connection  with  the  memorial  projected  in  com- 
memoration of  the  organization  of  a  League  of  Nations. 

A  GARDEN  CITY 

From  the  point  of  view  of  city  planning,  one  of  the  most 
interesting  types  in  this  classification  is  that  of  the  "garden 

[43] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


city,"  the  best  example  of  which  is  Letchworth,  England. 
The  founding  of  Letchworth  was  undertaken  in  the  belief 
that  the  problem  of  the  housing  of  the  industrial  classes, 
which  is  agreed  to  be  one  of  the  pressing  problems  of  our 
modern  civilization,  could  only  be  attacked  successfully  by  a 
fundamental  change  in  our  methods  of  urban  development. 
The  existing  methods  of  haphazard  building,  which  resulted 
in  a  few  years  in  the  creation  of  new  slum  areas,  were  not 
only  socially  bad,  but  expensive.  The  increasing  wealth 
of  the  country,  the  growth  of  population,  and  the  extension  of 
trade,  were  responsible  for  this  urban  development,  but 
it  was  clear  that  some  new  method  had  to  be  adopted  if  the 
new  areas  were  to  be  anything  but  gigantic  mistakes  and 
burdens  for  future  generations.  The  garden  city  of  Letch- 
worth is  not  a  fantastic  or  impossibly  idealistic  scheme.  It  is 
simply  town  building  according  to  modern  town  planning 
knowledge.  Among  the  most  interesting  publications  on  this 
subject  are  Garden  Cities,  by  Ebenezer  Howard,  the  founder 
of  Letchworth,  and  a  more  recent  volume  entitled  The 
y  Garden  City  —  A  Study  in  the  Development  of  a  Modern 
Town,  by  C.  B.  Purdom. 

THE  SMALLER  COMMUNITY 

Cities  distinguished  by  size  afford  examples  of  types  in- 
volving planning  of  our  largest  cities  or  groups  of  cities,  as  in 
metropolitan  areas,  or  smaller  cities  with  a  population  in  the 
neighborhood  of  100,000,  or  towns,  and  even  villages.  The 
planning  and  replanning  of  the  smaller  cities  takes  on  added 
importance  when  we  consider  how  great  is  their  number,  the 
population  affected,  and  their  relative  rates  of  increase.  Of 
the  total  population  of  the  United  States,  according  to  the 
'^^  census  of  1910,  more  than  one-half,  or  53.7%,  is  still  rural; 
%^  only  46.3%  is  urban.     Of  this  46%  more  than  one-half,  or 

25.5%   of  the   total  population,   is  included  in  towns  and 

[44] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

smaller  cities  with  a  population  ranging  from  2,500  to 
125,000,  and  only  20%  in  the  larger  cities  with  a  population 
of  from  125,000  to  1,000,000  or  more.  Moreover,  the 
relative  increase  of  population  is  greater  in  the  smaller  cities, 
especially  those  with  from  50,000  to  250,000,  being  41% 
against  32%  for  cities  of  1,000,000  or  more.  The  number 
of  places,  of  course,  grows  steadily  with  the  decrease  in 
population.  For  example,  of  cities  of  1,000,000  there  are 
only  three;  of  from  500,000  to  1,000,000,  five;  of  250,000 
to  500,000,  eleven;  of  100,000  to  250,000,  thirty-one;  of 
50,000  to  100,000,  fifty-nine;  of  25,000  to  50,000,  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty;  and  of  2,500  to  25,000,  twenty-one  hun- 
dred and  seventy-six.  Cities  with  a  population  of  100,000 
or  over  number  only  fifty. 

The  planning  problems  of  the  smaller  cities  are  much  like 
those  of  the  larger  cities,  except  that  the  smaller  cities  have 
a  better  opportunity  to  head  oi¥  many  of  the  evils  resulting 
from  the  early  lack  of  proper  planning  on  the  part  of  cities 
that  have  now  grown  large. 

The  planning  of  the  most  sparsely  settled  units  is  now  ) 
attracting  attention,  and  has  recently  been  well  discussed  in  a 
bulletin   of    the    American    Civic   Association    by    Professor     ) 
F.  A.  Waugh.   He  points  out  that  country  planning  must  fol- 
low.    The  country  has  just  as  great  a  need  and  just  as  good 
a  right  to  be  planned  as  the  city.     Something  over  half  the 
people  of  the  United  States  still  live  in  the  country.     More- 
over there  are  sound  reasons  for  thinking  that,  just  at  the 
present  time,  the  general  weal  of  society  is  more  concerned  in 
the  salvation  of  the  country  than  in  the  next  improvements 
in  the  city.     A  study  of  rural  condition?  and  problems  in  ]f'}\jM^^ 
Canada  has  recently  been  prepared   by  Thomas  Adams  for 
the   Commission   of   Conservation   under   the   title  of  Rural  jj 
Planning  and  Development.  ^ 


[45] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


Chapter  5 

Elements  of  City  Plans 

The  principal  elements  that  make  up  a  city  plan  are  the 
streets  and  roads,  the  street  railways,  the  steam  railroads,  the 
waterways  and  waterfronts,  the  parks,  playgrounds  and 
other  public  open  spaces,  and  the  various  public  or  quasi- 
public  structures.  In  a  comprehensive  analysis  of  the  subject 
from  this  point  of  view,  there  should  also  be  included  the 
subject  of  land  subdivision  and  the  restriction  of  private 
property,  which  embraces  in  its  most  complete  form  building 
zones  or  districts  and  the  limiting  of  the  area,  bulk  and  use 
of  buildings. 

STREETS  AND  ROADS 

In  building  a  city  the  first  act  usually  is  to  lay  out  some 
kind  of  street  system,  and  although  a  good  street  system 
is  of  primary  importance  to  convenience  and  economy  in  a 
city,  its  establishment  has  not  usually  been  presumed  to 
involve  any  special  knowledge  or  skill  beyond  that  of  the 
surveyor,  nor  any  different  point  of  view  from  that  of  the 
real  estate  promoter.  Most  of  the  city  planning  in  the 
United  States  has  been  undertaken  with  the  proprietary  point 
of  view.  It  has  been  done  for  the  owners  of  the  land  largely 
with  a  view  to  early  and  profitable  sales.  Not  only  that,  but 
the  methods,  traditions  and  habits  created  by  these  private 
owners  have  dominated  in  measure  the  official  city  planning 
agencies  which  later  became  established  in  cities.  These 
public  agencies  have  often,  in  fact  usually,  had  insufficient 

[46] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

power  and  inadequate  funds  to  accomplish  the  ends  that  are 
necessary  in  a  good  street  system. 

The  importance  of  the  street  in  the  city  plan  rests  in  the 
fact  that  it  is  the  channel  of  all  the  ordinary  means  of  public 
circulation  and  public  service,  that  it  is  essential  to  the 
profitable  development  and  use  of  property,  that  only  through 
the  opportunities  it  offers  can  there  be  any  broad  or  at- 
tractive expression  of  municipal  life,  and  that  only  through 
a  comprehensive,  well-ordered  system  of  main  streets  can 
the  functions  of  the  city  be  performed  with  economy  and 
efficiency. 

The  growth  of  a  city  naturally  is  radial,  pushing  out  In 
every  direction  from  one  or  more  centers,  unless  topography 
or  some  other  practically  insurmountable  obstacle  prevents. 
This  is  a  law  of  community  growth,  yet  many  of  the  builders 
of  cities  have  ignored  it,  and  have  permitted  cities  to  extend 
over  immense  areas  without  provision  for  these  natural 
means  of  growth.  Indeed,  it  has  often  happened  that  the 
direct  routes  which  grew  up  naturally  while  a  district  was 
rural  or  suburban  have  been  abandoned  or  obstructed  in  the 
later  development  of  urban  facilities,  and  have  been  super- 
seded by  a  system  of  streets  projected  with  the  sole  purpose 
of  developing  private  property. 

CitY_  planning  means  first  of  all  adequate  facilities  for , 
circulation.  The  greatest  problems  are  those  of  main  thor- 
oughfares and  street  railways  considered  in'  connection  with^ 
the  framework  of  steam  railroads.  Such  a  system  should  be 
planned  for  every  town  and  city  that  hopes  for  a  well- 
ordered  and  satisfactory  growth.  Main  thoroughfares 
should  be  planned  in  as  direct  lines  as  possible,  but  they 
need  not  necessarily  be  straight.  Sharp  curves  and  sudden 
jogs  should  be  avoided,  and  changes  in  certain  directions 
should  be  accomplished  by  means  of  curves  rather  than  angles, 
except  where  the  deflection  occurs  at  an  intersecting  street. 

[47] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


TP 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

A  graceful  curve  or  a  well-planned  fork  will  tend  to  break 
the  monotony  of  endlessly  long,  straight  streets.  In  the 
planning  of  main  thoroughfares,  topographical  conditions 
should  not  be  permitted  to  exercise  an  undue  influence. 
Detours  which  would  materially  lengthen  the  route  should 
be  made  only  to  avoid  excessive  grades.  Heavy  cutting  and 
filling  is  to  be  preferred  to  many  windings  in  a  great  traffic 
route  which  may  be  required  to  carry  the  trade  of  a  large  city 
for  centuries.  The  first  plan  for  such  a  thoroughfare  must 
usually  be  considered  its  permanent  one,  for  it  is  seldom,  and 
then  only  at  great  cost,  that  its  capacity  can  be  increased 
after  the  abutting  property  has  been  built  up. 

Among  the  fundamental  principles  in  the  planning  of 
main  thoroughfares  which  are  generally  accepted  as  sound, 
are  the  following: 

1.  That  some  central  city  authority  should  undertake  the 
planning  of  all  main  lines  of  communication, 

2.  That  arterial  streets  and  roads  should  be  taken  seri- 
ously as  highways  for  intercommunication,  and  enough  direct 
routes  preserved  from  being  blocked  to  provide  for  consider- 
able future  increase  of  road  traffic. 

3.  That  we  should  recognize  that  streets  now  carry  ve 
hides  of  at  least  three  distinct  speeds,  and  that  wherever  pos 
sible,  efficiency  requires  separate  lines  and  tracks  for  the  useV 
of  each. 

4.  That  the  danger  and  delay  caused  by  the  crossing  of 
main  thoroughfares  should  be  reduced,  so  far  as  possible,  by 
gathering  up  the  minor  roads  into  secondary  streets,  and 
by  bringing  the  latter  into  main  thoroughfares  only  at  fairly 
long  intervals. 

5.  That  where  these  junctions  occur,  ample  space  for  the 
circulation  and  distribution  of  traffic  should  be  provided  to 
facilitate  passing  and  crossing  and  to  make  it  safer. 

6.  That  the  location  of  main  thoroughfares  should  not  be 

[49] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


considered  by  itself,  but  should  take  account  of  the  planning 
of  business,  industrial  and  residential  districts,  of  areas  for 
recreation,  and  of  connections  with  surrounding  towns  and 
cities. 

7.  That  the  organic  planning  of  street  systems  with  a 
main  frame  of  thoroughfares  requires  the  use  of  varying 
street  widths.  Such  a  system  is  more  efficient,  more  econom- 
ical, and  also  more  stable.  It  renders  less  liable  undesirable 
and  unnecessary  changes. 

8.  That  in  new  suburban  areas,  adequate  width  on  the 
main  routes  should  be  reserved  wherever  additional  space  is 
likely  to  be  needed  by  future  growth. 

WHAT  MAKES  A  GOOD  STREET? 

To  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  main  thoroughfares,  sec- 
ondary thoroughfares  should  be  established,  connecting  the 
main  ones  with  each  other  and  with  the  secondary  centers 
of  population  and  industry.  These  two  classes  of  streets 
should  form  the  primary  plan  designed  to  create  direct 
routes  at  reasonable  intervals  throughout  the  entire  city  and 
surrounding  districts.  This  should  be  done  without  special 
regard  for  the  development  of  any  particular  property,  but 
with  the  impartial  aim  of  encouraging  an  equal  distribution 
of  opportunities  for  improvement. 

Every  decision  with  regard  to  the  street  is  important — its 
location,  its  width,  its  subdivision,  its  grade,  its  planting,  its 
fixtures.  With  few  exceptions,  these  decisions  concern  the 
general  public  far  more  than  the  individual  or  groups  of 
individuals  who  happen  to  reside  or  own  property  on  the 
particular  street  under  consideration. 

Different  streets  have  different  functions,  and  every  streei- 
is  related,  or  should  be,  to  some  other  street.  These  varying 
functions  require  varying  treatment,  especially  differentiation 
with  regard  to  street  widths.     The  area  given  up  to  streets 

[50] 


CITIES,  TOrVNS  AND  VILLAGES 


Walpole,  Mass.,  High  School 

The  Walpole  High  School  is  liberally  surrounded  ivith  open 

land  and  adjoins  a  toivn  forest  of  about  a  hundred 

acres,  a  gift  of  a  public-spirited  citizen 


m  most  cities  is  quite  ample ;  but  its  distribution  has  been 
arbitrary  and  unsystematic.  The  practice  of  maintaining 
uniformity  of  widths  throughout  a  street  system  has  been 
carried  too  far.  Only  a  few  streets  become  important 
through  the  establishment  of  business  upon  them,  or  through 
the  requirements  of  transportation.  There  has  been  much 
discussion  of  the  merits  and  demerits  of  classification  and 
standardization  as  aids  in  the  establishment  of  street  widths. 
The  facts  which  should  control  street  widths  are:  (i) 
the  width  required  for  a  line  of  vehicles,  usually  fixed  at 
eight  or  nine  feet,  thus  determining  road  units;  (2)  the 
width  required  for  a  line  of  pedestrians,  thus  fixing  sidewalk 

[51] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


A  Well-proportioned  Street 

units,  usually  estimated  at  two  feet;  (3)  the  classification  of 
streets  of  a  city  according  to  the  traffic  requirements  upon 
them,  or  the  other  functions  that  they  are  to  serve;  and  (4) 
an  estimate  of  the  present  and  future  traffic  of  the  streets  of 
any  given  class,  the  width  required  to  meet  that  traffic,  and 
then  the  standardization  of  that  width. 

The  requirements  of  local  streets  are  different  from  those 
of  main  thoroughfares  or  even  secondary  streets.  The  local 
street  should  not  be  broad,  and  to  make  it  so  Incurs  needless 
expense  for  grading  and  paving  as  well  as  for  land.  If  the 
local  street  is  kept  narrow,  it  acquires  a  quality  more  dis- 
tinctly domestic.  It  is  cosier  and  more  attractive.  There  are 
many  good  illustrations  of  local  streets  laid  out  with  a  total 
yv^idth  between  properties  of  forty  feet  or  less,  the  roadwaj^ 
being  not  more  than  from  twenty  to  twenty-four  feet. 

In  providing  locations  for  the  main  thoroughfares,  oppor- 
tunities should  be  sought  for  creating  public  open  spaces  and 


[52I 


CITIES,  TOPVNS  AND  VILLAGES 

appropriate  sites  for  public  and  semi-public  buildings.  The 
selection  and  planning  of  such  features,  or  planning  with  a 
view  to  their  establishment  in  the  future,  should  be  a  part 
of  the  study  of  the  primary  street  plan.  The  convenience  and 
the  effect  of  public  buildings  and  small  open  spaces  is  largely 
lost  without  suitable  approaches  giving  advantageous  view- 
points. 

The  constantly  increasing  variety,  size  and  number  of 
underground  structures  in  cities  necessitates  wide  main  thor- 
oughfares for  their  accommodation,  as  it  does  for  the  accom- 
modation of  surface  traffic.  It  is  difficult  to  realize  the  vast 
network  of  pipes  and  conduits  that  lie  under  the  streets. 
Such  structures  are  certain  to  increase  in  number  as  new  and 
large  uses  are  found  for  them.  The  most  important  are  the 
water  pipes,  sewers,  gas  pipes,  electrical  conduits,  steam  and 
hot  water  pipes,  pneumatic  tubes  and  refrigerating  pipes. 
Subways,  galleries  for  pipes  and  conduits,  and  vaults  under 
sidewalks  will  require  more  and  more  consideration  in 
•future  city  planning. 

A  GOOD  PLAN  IS  GOOD  BUSINESS 

Foremost  among  the  functions  of  practical  city  planning 
is  to  arrange  a  city  so  that  its  citizens  can  live  and  do  busi- 
ness there  with  the  maximum  of  comfort  and  the  minimum  of 
cost.  No  argument  is  necessary  to  convince  even  the  most 
skeptical  that  a  city  which  offers  the  most  comforts  and  con- 
veniences from  a  living  and  business  standpoint,  and  at  the 
same  time  at  a  minimum  of  cost,  is  the  city  that  is  going  to 
grow  rapidly  in  population  and  in  wealth.  As  this  is  so 
obvious,  it  seems  incredible  that  cities,  both  large  and  small, 
have  not  made  critical  examinations  of  their  street  plans  with 
a  view  to  reducing  the  cost  of  distributing  food  and  other 
supplies.  A  city  may  be  planned  to  reduce  the  costs  of  dis- 
tribution and  therefore  the  cost  of  living  in  the  following 

[53] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


ways :  ( i )  by  a  proper  location  of  main  depots  well  related 
to  both  rail  and  water  lines;  (2)  by  a  convenient  and  orderly 
location  of  streets  connecting  the  main  centers  of  distribution 
with  each  other  and  by  providing  a  serviceable  system  of 
secondary  streets  so  that  every  part  of  the  city  may  be  easily 
and  quickly  reached  from  these  main  centers;  (3)  by  ade- 
quate street  widths  and  a  skilful  and  economical  subdivision 
of  any  given  width  into  roadway  and  sidewalks;  (4)  by  a 
careful  study  of  street  grades  and  the  elimination  or  reduc- 
tion of  unnecessarily  heavy  ones;  (5)  by  raising  the  standard 
of  street  pavement  and  the  use  of  more  discrimination  in  the 
paving  of  streets  so  as  to  fit  them  for  the  kind  of  traffic  pass- 
ing over  them;  (6)  by  the  separating  of  the  grades  of  streets 
for  ordinary  vehicles  from  the  grades  of  railroads  crossing 
the  same;  (7)  by  the  compilation  and  use  in  city  planning 
and  replanning  of  accurate  data  showing  the  quantity,  char- 
acter and  weight  of  vehicles  and  the  speed  and  size  of  the 
same,  together  with  the  various  routes  used  between  the 
different  distributing  centers;  (8)  by  the  better  utilization 
of  the  country  trolley  and  the  city  street  car  lines.  In  all 
these  ways  and  in  others  closely  related  to  them,  the  planning 
of  towns  and  cities  may  be  made  an  effective  means  in  re- 
ducing the  cost  of  living. 

The  literature  on  streets  in  connection  with  city  planning 
is  now  quite  extensive.  Special  mention  should  be  made  of 
the  article  of  B,  A.  Haldeman  on  "The  Planning  of  City 
Streets,"  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Engineers  Club  of  Phila- 
delphia, 1913;  Nelson  P.  Lewis's  paper  on  "Street  Widths 
and  Their  Subdivision,"  Proceedings  of  the  National  Con- 
ference on  dty  Planning,  191 1;  the  report  of  Frederick 
Law  Olmsted  on  "Pittsburgh  Main  Thoroughfares  and  the 
Down  Town  District,"  191 1  ;  and  the  comprehensive  volume 
of  Charles  Mulford  Robinson  on  "City  Planning"  with 
special  reference  to  the  planning  of  streets  and  lots,    191 6. 

[54] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

STREET  RAILWAYS 

One  of  the  chief  agencies  in  promoting  progress  in  cities 
and  creating  wealth  throughout  the  industrial  world  has 
been  the  street  railway.  It  is  the  facilities  for  street  trans- 
portation that  have  made  the  modern  city  possible,  and 
created  many  of  the  most  difficult  city  planning  problems. 
The  development  of  transportation  in  the  United  States  has 
been  due  largely  to  private  knowledge  and  private  capital. 
Public  authorities  have  seldom  aided  or  encouraged  the  men 
who  conducted  the  first  experiments  in  city  railways.  The 
same  spirit  of  conservatism  together  with  the  apparent  im- 
possibility of  establishing  continuing  policies  has  obstructed 
the  vision,  limited  the  energy,  and  furnished  inadequate 
appropriation  for  public  enterprises  of  magnitude,  outside  of 
the  ordinary  routine  of  the  city. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  needs  of  modern  transportation 
were  not  provided  for  in  the  early  planning  of  cities.  It  is 
surprising,  however,  now  that  the  transportation  needs 
are  clear,  that  means  are  not  taken  to  provide  for  them. 
While  every  form  of  transportation  is  called  to  the  service 
of  the  city,  those  forms  which  represent  the  daily  flow  of 
traffic  through  the  public  highways,  and  particularly  the 
street  railways,  come  most  closely  in  touch  with  the  masses 
of  the  people.  The  extent  to  which  they  serve  and  satisfy 
the  public  need  may  be  taken  as  one  of  the  indications  of  the 
progress  and  enterprise  of  the  community.  But  whether  the 
business  of  the  street  railway  drifts  into  public  ownership 
and  operation,  or  whether  it  continues  in  private  control, 
thoroughly  efficient  and  satisfactory  service  can  be  given  to 
all  parts  of  a  community  only  by  a  well-distributed  and  well 
coordinated  system  which  shall  provide  the  most  direct  and 
speedy  routes.  This  is  true  not  only  between  existing  im- 
portant business   and   residential  centers,   but   to   and   from 

[55] 


NEfV  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


points  and  through  sections  which  need  the  aid  and  encour- 
agement of  good  transportation  facilities  for  their  develop- 
ment into  important  centers.  Such  a  street  railway  system 
can  be  created  only  where  the  sj'stem  of  main  thoroughfares 
which  forms  the  routes  which  must  be  used  by  general  traffic 
is  established  with  a  primary  view  to  providing  adequate 
facilities  for  trans'portation, 

"RAPID  TRANSIT" 

The  first  discovery  in  almost  every  city  where  systematic 
studies  have  been  made  for  the  imprDvement  of  transporta- 
tion has  been  that  the  street  railway  system  is  poorly  planned 
and  will  not  permit  of  such  a  routing  of  the  railway  lines  as 
is  necessary  for  thoroughly  good  service.  These  conditions 
are  found  in  their  most  aggravated  forms  in  the  central  areas 
toward  which  the  lines  converge.  The  only  really  efficient 
remedy,  as  a  rule,  is  the  widening  or  opening  of  streets,  but 
as  this  involves  heavy  expense  and  the  destruction  of  valuable 
property,  it  is  seldom  applied,  and  various  makeshifts  are 
adopted.  When  the  city  reaches  metropolitan  proportions 
and  the  congestion  becomes  intolerable,  the  elevated  railroad 
-or  subway  is  resorted  to,  which  often  increases  rather  than 
decreases  the  evils  for  which  a  remedy  is  sought. 

From  the  point  of  view  o£  city  planning,  the  most  im- 
portant thing  to  keep  in  mind  is  that  thoroughly  economic 
and  satisfactory  transportation  facilities  cannot  be  provided 
in  any  city  until  the  street  planning  and  street  railway 
authorities  work  in  cooperation  in  providing  the  necessary 
extensions  and  improvements.  Street  systems  have  been 
extended  more  or  less  arbitrarily,  without  proper  considera- 
tion of  their  availability  for  purposes  of  general  transporta- 
tion. The  failure  to  do  this  is  often  what  makes  subways 
necessary.  Cities  should  have  a  coordinated  system  of 
thoroughfares.     They   should    be   planned   with   a   view   of 

[56] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 


flirt  111  St  ( 

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iliijt  |:e  St:  E«  9«aD.ti)    ...  ...... 

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Hudson  Terminal,  New  York  City 

An  elaborate  metropolitan  city  suhzvay  system  of 

transportation   is  here  well  illustrated 

providing  efficient,   economic   and   abundant   street    railway 
service,  and  so  far  as  possible  on  the  surface  of  streets. 

Rapid  transit  may  be  provided  by  "tube  tunnels,"  sub- 
ways, "open  cuts,"  viaducts,  or  elevated  railroads.  Only 
cities  of  great  size  and  -population,  however,  require  pro- 
vision for  rapid  transit  service.  Early  development  is,  or 
ought  to  be,  influenced  largely  by  the  city's  topography. 
Provision  for  transportation  necessarily  follows  the 
earlier  development.  The  growth  of  a  city  is  usually  irregu- 
lar in  plan,  and  the  later  provision  of  rapid  transit  con- 
sequently becomes  more  difficult  to  apply.  In  the  growth 
of  a  city  the  business  area  and  district  have  probably  been 
of  narrow  extent  with  considerable  congestion.  The  pro- 
vision of  rapid  transit  facilities  in  the  small  area  of  con- 
gestion is  liable  to  increase  that  congestion  rather  than 
relieve  it.  Therefore  rapid  transit  facilities  centering  upon 
a  business  district  should  be  provided  not  to  a  single  point, 


[S7l 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


Sea  Beach  Line,  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  Co. 

The  "open  cut"  costs  less  than  the  snbivay,  and  passengers 

travel  in   greater  comfort.      The  "open   cut"   also 

gives  comparative  quietness  of  train  operation 


but  to  a  number  of  points  covering  an  extended  area,  so  that 
the  lines  of  travel  may  tend  to  increase  the  area  and  thus 
decrease  the  density  of  business  congestion.  Theoretically, 
the  perfect  provision  for  rapid  transit  in  a  city  would 
take  the  business  district  as  a  central  circle  and  radiate 
from  that  district  in  every  direction,  lines  having  large 
facilities  nearer  to  the  central  circle,  and  tapering  out  to  the 
lesser  facilities  in  the  outlying  suburban  districts,  thus  effect- 
ing what  in  diagrammatic  form  would  be  a  star  with  many 
points.  To  obtain  this,  a  general  rectilinear  layout  for  the 
regular  streets  with  broad  diagonal  avenues  radiating  in 
straight  lines  from  the  central  district  would  appear  to  yield 
the  best  results. 

[58] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

Straight  streets  for  rapid  transit  facilities  are  most  desira- 
ble, although  curves  having  an  easy  radius  are  not  objec- 
tionable in  operation,  nor  do  they  add  materially  to  the 
initial  cost.  In  the  development  of  a  city  plan  the  entire 
elimination  of  any  terminals  for  rapid  transit  service  within 
the  business  district  should  be  considered  essential.  Operat- 
ing lines  should  extend  in  from  the  outer  districts,  pass 
through  the  business  district,  and  extend  out  again  to  the 
exterior  sections  of  the  city.  Adequate  facilities  for  trans- 
portation are  best  obtained  by  the  provision  of  main  straight 
arteries  for  rapid  transit  from  a  central  district  to  the  out- 
lying suburbs,  and  then  from  the  various  stations  on  these 
radial  lines,  provision  should  be  made  for  local  and  sub- 
sidiary distribution  by  means  of  surface  transportation. 

Books  and  articles  of  special  value  in  connection  with 
the  street  railways  and  the  city  plan  are:  the  reports  of 
Bion  J.  Arnold  on  Pittsburgh,  Chicago,  and  other  cities; 
the  writings  of  John  V.  Davies;  the  articles  and  reports  of 
Delos  F.  Wilcox ;  the  Proceedings  of  the  National  Con- 
ference on  City  Planning,  191 3  ;  and  the  report  of  the  Royal 
Commission  on  London  Traffic,  191 1. 

STEAM  RAILROADS 

The  engineer  working  on  city  planning  problems  is  nearly 
always  confronted  with  tvvo  extreme  alternatives.  He  may 
plan  for  the  perfect  solution  of  the  problems  on  paper, 
practically  regardless  of  existing  conditions,  or  he  may  accept 
present  conditions  in  their  entirety  and  simply  build  on 
them  as  a  basis.  A  sound  analysis  of  the  whole  problem 
with  due  regard  to  the  original  and  acquired  rights  of  all 
parties,  including  always  the  general  public,  will  usually 
lead  to  a  middle  course  of  compromise.  Many  good  sug- 
gestions   and    features    of    a    city    plan    fail    of    acceptance 

[59] 


NEfV  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


because  coupled  with  Issues  which,  though  ultimately  desir- 
able, are  not  essential  to  the  immediate  betterment. 

It  should  be  an  accepted  fact  that  the  plans  for  railroad 
development  should,  so  far  as  possible,  present  ultimate 
conditions.  The  recommended  layout  should  be  such  as 
to  insure  the  maximum  benefit  to  the  community  at  large. 
It  is  therefore  incumbent  upon  the  engineer  to  specify  the 
progressive  steps  necessary  to  put  the  plan  into  action.  In 
this  regard  the  weakness  of  many  plans  is  apparent.  The 
ultimate  la3^out  may  be  complete,  but  failure  to  suggest 
the  successive  stages  often  leaves  the  plan  to  be  digested 
as  a  whole,  and  its  practicability  is  much  more  difficult 
to  establish. 

The  main  divisions  of  the  problem  of  the  railroads  are: 
(a)  provision  for  passenger  traffic — the  means  of  carrying 
present  and  future  generations  safely,  cheaply,  conveniently 
and  quickly;  and  (b)  provision  for  freight — the  means  of 
handling  with  dispatch  and  economy  foodstuffs,  manufac- 
tured products  and  raw  materials  for  local  delivery,  ship- 
ment or  transshipment. 

The  importance  of  study  of  the  railroad  problem  in  con- 
nection with  general  city  planning  is  due  partly  to  the  need 
of  plans  for  effective  ultimate  consolidation,  following  inde- 
pendent development  and  extension  by  competing  interests. 
The  essential  needs  are,  first,  to  provide  a  flexible  and  endur- 
ing system  which  shall  represent  the  best  type  of  public 
service;  and  second,  to  introduce  economies  of  manage- 
ment, operation  and  maintenance  of  the  properties  not  usually 
possible  under  independent  control,  thus  making  for  more 
efficient  service  and  lower  rates. 

The  railroads  have  been  called  the  framework  of  the 
city  plan,  and  their  importance  has  been  ably  discussed  in 
papers  by  George  R.  Wadsworth,  formerly  Consulting  En- 
gineer to  the  Boston  Metropolitan  Improvements  Commis- 

[60] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

sion;  by  Frederic  A.  Delano,  President  of  the  Wabash 
Railroad  Company,  and  others.  It  has  been  made  clear  in 
these  discussions  that  it  is  unfortunate  to  assign  to  a  com-  J 
mi-^sion  or  to  any  expert  the  study  and  analysis  of  a  single 
system  of  transportation,  involving  only  the  steam  railroad 
properties,  the  rapid  transit  lines,  or  the  surface  car  lines. 
The  component  parts  of  the  problem  cannot  properly  be 
separated.  There  is  a  distinct  and  proper  relation  between 
the  functions  and  physical  properties  of  steam  railroads, 
rapid  transit  lines  either  existing  or  proposed,  and  the  usual 
electric  car  lines  running  on  the  surface  of  streets.  When- 
ever possible,  the  entire  problem  should  be  considered  and 
attacked  as  a  unit,  and  the  development  of  the  system 
as  a  whole  should  entail  the  consideration  of  all  transporta- 
tion routes. 

Among  the  books  of  special  importance  dealing  with  steam 
railroads  in  relation  to  the  city  plan  may  be  mentioned : 
F.  A.  Delano,  "Railway  Terminals  and  Their  Relation  to 
City  Planning,"  Engineering  Record,  December,  1 909;  Ed- 
ward Hungerford,  "The  Modern  Railroad";  J.  A.  Droege, 
"Freight  Terminals  and  Trains,"  including  a  revision  of 
yards  and  terminals,  1912;  George  R.  Wadsworth,  Pro- 
ceedings  National   Conference   on   City   Planning,    1910. 

COMMERCIAL  WATERWAYS  AND 
WATERFRONTS 

The  proper  development  of  water  frontages,  harbors  and 
docks  is  essential  to  practical  city  planning.  The  navigable 
waters  of  the  United  States  are  such  as  are  navigable  in 
fact,  and  which  by  themselves,  or  in  connection  with  other 
waters,  form  a  continuous  channel  for  commerce  with  foreign 
countries  or  among  the  states.  In  England,  v/aters  are 
theoretically  navigable  if  they  rise  to  flow  of  the  tide,  the 
public  liaving  the  rights  of  fishing  and  navigation,  but  the 

I61] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


Charles  River  Basin,  Boston,  before  Improvement, 
Showing  Water  at  Level  of  Low  Tide 


crown  reserving  the  ownership  of  the  bed.  In  practice, 
however,  all  the  more  important  rivers  are  entirely  open 
to  the  public. 

The  most  obvious  division  of  the  waterways  is  into  wide 
and  narrow.  The  former  comprise  the  large  lakes,  the  ocean 
with  its  wide  straits,  large  bays  and  other  frontages,  broad 
rivers,  and  in  general  all  those  waters  on  the  borders  of 
which  vessels  can  be  moored  adjacent  to  proper  structures 
erected  at  right  angles  to  the  shore  line,  and  where  there  is 
sufficient  space  for  vessels  to  turn  when  entering  or  leaving 
their  berths  without  blocking  other  shipping.  Narrow  water- 
ways consist  of  canals,  canalized  rivers,  and  some  narrow 
branches  of  the  ocean. 

The  pier  and  slip  type  of  construction  is  normally  found 
upon  wide  waterways,  while  the  bulkhead  type  must  neces- 
sarily be  employed  upon  narrow  ones.  With  a  narrow 
waterway,  because  of  the  size  of  modern  craft,  it  is  usually 

[62] 


CITIES.  TOWNS  AND  flLLAGES 


Charles  River  Basin,  after   Improvement,   Showing 
Water  at  Permanent  High   Level 

The  reclamation   of  the   Charles  River  Basiti   is  one   of  the 
notable  waterfront  improvements  of  American   cities 


impossible  to  project  piers  at  right  angles  to  the  shore 
whenever  it  is  deemed  necessary  to  increase  the  available 
berthing  space  in  front  of  a  given  length  of  water  frontage. 
Vessels  must  then  tie  against  a  bulkhead  structure  built 
parallel  with  the  waterway.  Three  or  four  times  the  length 
of  the  largest  vessel  which  will  probably  navigate  a  given 
waterway  has  been  stated  as  the  most  advantageous  width, 
whenever  vessels  must  turn  and  enter  slips  built  at  right 
angles  to  the  shore.  Where  vessels  tie  up  against  bulkheads 
built  parallel  with  tlie  shore  line,  less  width  is  necessary. 
In  this  case  allowance  must  be  made  for  the  vessel  to  tie 

[63] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 

against  the  bulkhead  and  to  accommodate  a  line  of  river 
or  canal  craft  both  inside  and  outside  the  vessel  when  so 
moored.  Space  should  also  be  available  for  vessels  to  pass 
with  ample  clearance  in  the  remainder  of  the  waterway. 
This  means  that  between  bulkhead  structures  a  width  of 
about  eight  times  that  of  the  normal  vessel  should  be 
maintained  as  the  total  space  available,  and  that  a  width 
of  four  times  the  normal  vessel  beam  should  also  be  main- 
tained in  the  fairway. 

Real  estate  on  upland  being  so  much  more  valuable  than 
land  under  water,  the  course  followed  in  most  harbors  is 
to  first  determine  the  width  of  waterway  in  the  clear 
between  pier  head  lines,  and  the  distance  between  pier  head 
and  bulkhead  lines.  The  area  back  of  the  bulkhead  lines 
so  determined  is  then  solidly  filled  so  as  to  make  usable 
land.  Many  acres  of  meadow  land  or  salt  marsh  surround- 
ing Jamaica  Bay,  New  York,  the  lowlands  along  the  water- 
front of  Seattle,  and  practically  the  whole  harbor  at  Los 
Angeles,  have  been  created  by  depositing  fill  secured  either 
from  the  upland  or  by  the  dredging  of  channels. 

It  may  be  said  in  general  that  the  width  of  waterway 
is  not  so  important  as  its  continuation  as  far  as  possible  into 
the  upland.  Many  narrow  waterways  like  these,  at  Cleve- 
land and  Chicago,  for  example,  carry  great  tonnages  thus 
serving  the  industrial  districts  which  they  tap.  In  gen- 
eral city  planning  schemes,  such  waterways  almost  in- 
variably should  be  maintained  because  of  their  great  industrial 
value. 

The  Federal  Government  is  charged  with  the  establish- 
ing of  pier  head  and  bulkhead  lines,  and  the  army  engi- 
neers are  exceedingly  careful  in  their  determination  of 
proper  locations  for  such  lines.  Whenever  the  Govern- 
ment has  not  already  made  a  study  of  the  situation,  it  is 
wise    to    secure    its    action    at    an    early    date    to    prevent 

[64I 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

encroachments    upon    the    waterway    by   short-sighted   com- 
mercial interests. 

WATERFRONT  FACILITIES 

The  development  upon  the  upland  determines  to  a  large 
extent  the  type  of  the  adjacent  waterfront  structures.  Three 
types  are  of  greatest  importance:  (i)  the  commercial, 
providing  for  large  manufacturing  and  shipping  interests; 
(2)  the  residential  type  for  the  location  of  beautiful  estates; 
and  (3)  the  recreational  use  of  water  frontage  for  park  and 
boulevard  purposes. 

Communication  between  the  hinterland  and  the  water- 
front is  a  factor  of  great  importance  from  a  city  planning 
point  of  view.  Without  a  proper  street  system  connecting 
the  business  and  industrial  parts  of  a  city  with  the  water- 
front, the  latter  cannot  fully  serve  its  purposes.  The  num- 
ber of  streets  connecting  with  the  waterfront .  which  are 
needed,  in  any  case,  depends  largely  upon  the  street  traffic 
which  must  be  provided  for.  If  a  port  is  used  primarily 
for  the  transshipment  of  goods  between  large  and  small 
vessels,  or  between  the  waterfront  and  factory  buildings 
located  thereon,  there  is  less  necessity  for  an  elaborate  street 
S3'Stem  than  if  the  larger  part  of  the  commerce  is  moved  over 
the  streets  from  the  waterfront  to  the  hinterland. 

Facilities  should  be  supplied  not  only  for  freight  but 
for  the  transportation  of  people  by  street  railway.  The 
railroads  should  also  be  connected  with  waterfront  struc- 
tures in  a  more  or  less  intimate  way.  On  the  shores  of 
the  ocean  and  the  Great  Lakes,  where  a  considerable  inter- 
change normally  takes  place  between  water  and  rail  carriers, 
the  ideal  scheme  is  one  in  which  each  railroad  line  reaches 
each  element  for  the  handling  of  merchandise  at  the  water- 
front. Of  equal  importance  to  the  street  connections  with  the 
waterfront  is  the  shape  and  size  of  plots  of  land  adjacent 

[65] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  Of 


to  the  water  and  set  aside  for  various  specific  purposes. 
It  makes  a  great  difference  whether  the  land  is  to  be  used 
for  manufacturing  enterprises,  railroad  terminals,  park  pur- 
poses, or  residences. 

There  may  be  a  wide  variety  in  the  sizes  and  shapes  of 
lots  for  manufacturing  purposes  on  account  of  the  difference 
in  the  demand.  A  plot  for  a  railroad  terminal  is  of  greater 
value  to  the  railroad  when  it  is  long  and  narrow,  because 
of  the  advantages  in  providing  proper  switching  leads  and 
track  lengths.  The  boundaries  of  a  plot  set  aside  for  a 
park  are  usually  determined  by  the  topography. 

In  Europe  it  is  a  common  practice  for  municipalities  to 
set  aside  large  areas  on  the  waterfront  for  purely  industrial 
development.  This  policy  has  been  neglected  in  this  coun- 
try. The  whole  tendency  of  modern  times,  however,  with 
regard  to  waterfront  ownership  seems  to  be  towards  com- 
plete municipal  control. 

Special  reference  should  be  made  to  the  valuable  article 
on  "Navigable  Waters"  by  E.  P.  Goodrich-in  the  National 
Municipal  League  volume  on  "City  Planning,"  which  has 
been  followed  in  part  as  an  outline  for  this  brief  summary 
on  commercial  waterways  and  waterfronts.  Mention  should 
also  be  made  of  Mr.  Goodrich's  reports  on  waterfront 
improvements  for  American  cities.  The  following  are 
general  references:  "Report  of  Connecticut  Rivers  and 
Harbors  Commission,"  igio;  the  writings  of  Calvin  Tom- 
kins,  Dock  Commissioner,  New  York  City;  Reports  of  the 
Toronto  Harbor  Commissioners;  Document  No.  7,  Na- 
tional Waterways  Commission,  U.  S. ;  "Cities  and  Ports," 
by  Robert  S.  Peabody,  and  "The  Port  of  Hamburg,"  by 
E.  J,  Clapp, 


[66] 


CITIES,  rOlVNS  AND  VILLAGES 


DOCKS  AND  HARBORS 

The  basic  principle  of  port  and  harbor  organization  from 
a  city  planning  point  of  view  is  that  a  port  should  be 
developed  as  a  unit  under  public  control  of  the  terms  on 
which  private  carriers,  shippers  and  consignees  shall  be 
served.  The  port  being  once  conceived  as  an  organic  whole, 
administered  by  the  city  for  the  benefit  of  all,  there  can  be 
no  thought  of  returning  to  the  private  rivalry  and  mutual 
obstruction  from  which  American  waterfront  developments 
still  sufter. 

A  port  at  which  the  several  parts  are  properly  related 
to  each  other  will  enjoy  the  advantages  of  industrial  as 
well  as  commercial  opportunity.  The  growth  of  a  city 
depends  more  on  the  establishment  of  factories  than  upon 
the  passage  and  transshipment  of  commodities.  Cheap  trans- 
portation ana  good  terminal  distribution  are  important  in 
factory  development.  City  planning  should  aim  especially 
to  provide  intercommunication  between  the  factories  at  a 
port,  its  docks,  and  all  transportation  lines.  Otherwise  the 
city  cannot  successfully  compete  in  the  production  and  distri- 
bution of  wealth. 

Cities  that  are  fortunate  in  also  being  ports  should  base 
their  city  plans  upon  the  peculiar  opportunity  that  the  port 
affords.  Mistakes  in  planning  and  development  which  exist 
at  most  of  the  older  port  cities  of  the  United  States  should 
gradually  be  corrected  and  new  improvements  undertaken 
with  reference  to  a  preconceived  design.  When  in  accord 
with  the  general  plan  of  the  public  or  private  terminal, 
improvements  should  be  encouraged,  but  they  sliould  be 
subject  to  such  public  regulation  and  supervision  as  may 
be  necessary  to  fit  them  into  a  public  system  of  administra- 
tion. 

Some   of    the   principal   points   which    should    be   kept    in 

[67] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


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Bush  Terminal  Plant.    General  View  from  Balloon 


Bush  Terminal  Railroad  Yard.    Accommodations  for 
2,ooo  Standard  Cars 


[68] 


CITIES,  TOIVNS  AND  VILLAGES 

mind  in  connection  with  the  preparation  of  a  comprehensive 
plan  for  dock  and  harbor  development  are  as  follows :  ( i ) 
the  marginal  streets  and  railways  should  form  the  base  line 
upon  which  to  develop  an  efficient  waterfront  and  industrial 
system;  (2)  the  establishment  of  harbor  lines  and  the  laying 
out  of  the  waterways  is  a  matter  of  equal  importance,  these 
two  forming  the  foundation  for  the  port  terminal  plan;  (3) 
the  dry  docks,  warehouses,  factory  buildings,  etc.,  are  subor- 
dinate; (4)  the  entire  port  situation  should  be  analyzed 
with  a  view  to  determining  what  purposes  the  various  dis- 
tricts are  best  suited  to  serve — that  is,  overseas  shipping, 
local  shipping,  or  industrial  purposes,  coordinating  these 
so  as  to  make  one  unified  terminal  system;  (5)  the  port 
terminal  plan  should  not  be  burdened  with  details  at  the 
start,  but  provision  should  be  made  for  the  essentials,  the 
other  facilities  being  provided  from  time  to  time  in  accord- 
ance with  the  growth  and  needs  of  the  community. 

AN  INDUSTRIAL  HARBOR 

The  Busli  Terminal  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  is  the  best  exam- 
ple in  the  country  of  a  fully  developed  industrial  harbor. 
It  comprises  six  factors,  namely :  ( i )  the  docks  where 
ship  cargoes  are  discharged;  (2)  the  bulkhead  over  which, 
by  certain  appliances,  goods  are  transferred  from  the  docks; 
(3)  the  warehouses;  (4)  the  .harbor  railroad  back  of  the 
warehouses,  which  is  connected  not  only  with  them  and 
with  the  main  railroads  but  also  with  the  loft  buildings; 
(5)  the  great  loft  buildings  for  factories;  (6)  the  resi- 
dential area  where  many  of  those  employed  in  the  Ter- 
minal live. 

American  dock  development  has  been  well  summarized 
in  a  paper  by  George  C.  Sikes  of  Chicago,  presented  to  the 
National  Conference  on  City  Planning  in  191 1.     He  classi- 

[69] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


fies  docks  according  to  the  types  of  ownership  as  follows : 
( I )  public  ownership,  including  both  state  and  city  owner- 
ship;  (2)  the  harbor  trust;  (3)  railroad  ownership;  (4) 
ownership  by  private  corporations  or  individuals  not  engaged 
in  the  tranS'portation  business,  either  rail  or  water;  (5) 
ownership  })y  the  boat  line  which  maintains  and  operates 
the  dock  facilities  primarily  for  its  own  use. 

The  paper  includes  a  full  description  of  New  York's 
municipal  dock  system ;  New  Orleans  under  a  state  com- 
mission; the  harbor  of  San  Francisco;  Montreal's  monopoly 
of  its  port;  examples  of  private  ownership;  the  movement 
in  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  toward  municipal  owner- 
ship ;  the  benefits  of  public  ownership ;  and  the  relation  of 
dock  development  to  city  planning,  about  which  the  fol- 
lowing statement  is  made : 

"The  case  for  the  public  ownership  of  docks  becomes 
still  stronger  when  considered  in  relation  to  city  planning 
The  waterfront  constitutes  one  of  the  chief  features  of  any 
city  located  on  navigable  water.  Proper  correlations  of 
water-carriers  with  other  forms  of  transportation  is  of 
the  utmost  importance.  Both  beauty  and  utility  call  for 
development  in  accordance  with  a  plan  that  recognizes  the 
need  for  unity.  Experience  teaches  that  development  on 
the  basis  of  unity  usually  is  possible  only  where  the  policy 
of  complete  public  ownership  prevails.  Private  rights  on 
the  waterfront  of  a  city  are  likely  to  prove  a  serious  ob- 
stacle to  the  execution  of  comprehensive  plans  that  rec- 
ognize all  the  needs  of  a  community." 

The  most  complete  and  up-to-date  reference  for  the  bib- 
liography of  docks  and  harbors  is  to  be  found  in  the  "Bib- 
liography of  Municipal  Government,"  by  W.  B.  Munro, 
Section  XXXII. 


[70] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  1  ULLAGES 


PARKS  AND  PARKWAYS 


Every  city  worthy  of  the  name  has  pubHc  parks  of  some 
sort,  and  they  are  now  recognized  as  a  necessity  of  city 
life,  a  part  of  the  city  plan,  just  as  streets  and  schools  are. 
They  contribute  to  the  pleasure  and  heaTtfi  of  urban  popu- 
lations more  than  any  other  recreative  feature,  and  furnish 
the  most  necessary  and  valuable  antidote  to  the  artificiality, 
confusion,  and  feverishness  of-  life  in  cities.  At  the  present 
time  the  value  of  parks  and  open  spaces  in  towns  and  cities 
is  very  generally  appreciated.  It  is  recognized  that  such 
facilities  as  parks  afford  are  not  only  desirable,  but  in- 
creasingly necessary,  in  fact,  indispensable.  In  a  vague  way 
there  is  approval,  too,  of  a  large  increase  in  both  parks  and 
playgrounds.  But  few  even  of  the  more  progressive  com-  ^ 
munities  appear  yet  to  understand  with  any  clearness  that 
these  open  spaces  in  cities  are  of  great  variety;  that  they  are, 
or  should  be,  selected  and  developed  by  experts  to  serve  ' 
essentially  different  purposes,  and  that  the  failure  to  ap-  / 
preciate  this  fact  and  to  keep  it  constantly  in  mind  leads 
to  great  waste  and  inefficiency  in  our  .public  grounds. 

There  are  a  few  principles  in  the  selection  of  land  for 
parks,  parkways,  and  -playgrounds  which  are  finding  in- 
creasing acceptance  by  city  authorities.  Briefly  stated,  they 
are  as  follows: 

1.  To  acquire  those  easily  accessible  small  tracts  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  city  which  may  most  cheaply  be  adapted 
to  serve  as  local  playgrounds,  neighborhood  or  recreation 
centers. 

2.  To  seek  also  some  moderately  large  tracts,  even  though 
less  accessible  for  the  present  generation,  provided  they  are 
capable  of  conversion  at  relatively  small  cost,  which  will 
have  the  beauty  of  natural  scenery. 

[71] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


Dark  Hollow  Pond 

A  park-like  treatment  of  a  natural  reservoirj  making  it  an 

adjunct  of  the  park  system 

3.  To  acquire  property  for  large  parks  in  advance  of  a 
general  settlement  of  the  neighborhood. 

4.  To  select  generally,  but  not  always,  lands  which  are 
not  well  adapted  topographically  for  streets  and  build- 
ings. 

5.  To  distribute  the  parks  and  playgrounds  over  the 
city  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  the  maximum  of  use  to  the 
people  who  will  be  called  upon  to  pay  for  their  acquisition, 
development  and  maintenance. 


WHAT  IS  A  PARK? 

The  term  "parks"  is  used  in  a  loose  sense  to  cover  all 
sorts  of  public  grounds.  City  squares,  commons,  public 
gardens,  playgrounds,  neighborhood  centers,  parkways,  large 

[72] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 


» 

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A  popular  and  attractive  recreation  feature  under  the 
direction  of  the  Boy  Scouts 


outlying  reservations  or  forests,  and  parks  proper  —  all  are 
termed  "parks." 

City  squares,  commons,  and  public  gardens  are  usually  of 
small  size,  and  are  to  be  found  in  the  business  as  well  as 
the  residential  sections  of  cities.  Their  practical  functions 
are  to  furnish  agreeable  views  for  those  passing  by  or 
through  them,  to  provide  a  pleasant  resting  place  for  those 
who  take  the  time  to  use  them  in  this  manner,  and  in 
some  cases  to  afford  an  appropriate  and  agreeable  fore- 
ground or  approach  to  public  or  quasi-puj^lic  buildings. 

Playgrounds  are  essentially  different  from  squares,  and 
should  be  selected  and  designed  primarily  for  play.  For 
convenience,  they  are  usually  divided  into  three  classes :  those 
for  little  tots ;   those   for  children   of   the  school   age ;   and 


J) 


[73] 


NKir  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 

those  for  older  boys  and  men,  or  for  girls  and  women.  In 
no  other  department  of  public  recreation  has  there  recently 
been  such  a  great  development. 

Parkways  and  boulevards  are  agreeable  promenades  in 
themselves,  and  serve  usually  as  pleasant  means  of  access 
to  parks  from  the  various  parts  of  the  city  or  as  connections 
from  one  park  to  another.  A  parkway  is  apt  to  include 
more  breadth  of  turf  or  ground  planted  with  trees  and  shrub- 
bery than  a  boulevard,  giving  it  a  more  park-like  character 
and  inducing  a  less  formal  treatment  of  the  roads,  paths, 
and  accessory  features.  Boulevards  are  usually  arranged 
more  formally,  with  straigfiFTows  of  shade  trees,  and  par- 
allel ways  for  pedestrians  and  vehicles. 

One  of  the  chief   features  of  a  city  park  system   is  the 
large   park,    comprising   from    200   to    i,ooo   acres   or   even 
more.     Its  main  purpose  is  to  place  within  the  reach  of  the 
people   of    a   city   the   enjoyment    of    such    a    measure   as    is 
practicable  of  pleasant,  rural  scenery.     The  justification  of 
its  size,   interfering  as  it  does  with  streets  and  other  city 
development,   is   the  necessity   for  spaciousness   in   the   pro- 
duction of  scenery  that  is  broad  and  natural  and  beautiful. 
One  of  the  chief  problems  of  the  landscape  architect  or  pa'rk 
planner  is  to  make  these  parks  available  and  useful  to  great 
numbers  of  people  without  destroying  the  natural  appear- 
ance  of   their   scenery,    the   main   purpose   for   which    they 
have  been  created. 
/       The  conviction  is  steadily  spreading  in  the  United  States 
\  that  a  city  needs  not  only  to  provide  itself  with  each  class 
'   or   type  of   recreation  grounds,   but   that  these  grounds   in 
/   their  main  or  general  features  should  be  outlined,  acquired, 
/  and   developed    as   a   system,    each   part   having   relation   to 
)   every  other  part.     Just  as  a  city  needs  a  street  system,  a 
S    school    system,    a    water    system,    a    drainage    system,    and 
I  systems  to   provide   for   its  other   municipal   activities,   so   it 

[74] 


CITIES.  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 


Band-stand,  Walpole,  Mass.,  Common 

Village  greens  and  commons  are  characteristic  of  New 

England  towns  and  cities.     Every   place   needs 

small  open  spaces  in  its  built-up  sections 

needs  a  comprehensive,  M^ell-distributed,  well-developed  sys- 
tem of  parks  and  pleasure  grounds.  As  yet,  few  American 
cities  have  been  able  to  secure  a  well-balanced  park  system. 
Some  cities  have  a  liberal  provision  of  public  squares  but 
few  playgrounds  and  parks  and  no  parkways.  Others  have 
large  parks  and  boulevards  but  no  playgrounds,  while  still 
others  have  parks  and  boulevards  and  playgrounds  but  few 
public  squares.  Many  examples  could  be  given  of  the  un- 
satisfactory, incomplete,  and  one-sided  way  in  which  our  so- 

[75] 


\  appH 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 

called  park  systems  have  been  developed.  The  public  grounds 
of  practically  all  of  our  cities  have  been  selected  and  im- 
proved by  isolated  and  desultory  proceedings.  The  result 
in  most  cases  has  led  to  an  unnecessary  waste  of  money  and 
opportunity.  Happily,  there  are  exceptions.  With  the  aid 
of  expert  advice,  a  few  of  the  larger  cities  have  worked 
out  thoughtful  and  consistent  plans,  and  in  the  Middle  West 
even  some  small  cities  have  conceived  a  system,  and  grad- 
ually, piece  by  piece,  this  system  is  being  patiently  acquired 
and  executed. 
/  Park  lands  bought  by  a  city  may  be  paid  for  from  annual 
^  taxation,  by  bond  issues,  by  special  assessment,  or  by  the 
lication  of  excess  condemnation. 
One  of  the  greatest  influences  now  operating  toward  a 
'  better  provision  for  parks  and  other  recreation  facilities  in 
this  country  is  city  planning.  To  make  parks  effective,  other 
factors  of  the  city  plan  must  be  considered.  The  public 
works  of  a  city  are  dependent  one  upon  another.  For 
/  example,  it  is  nearly  always  desirable  to  reserve  for  park 
[  purposes  the  banks  of  the  brooks,  small  rivers,  and  other 
non-navigable  streams  of  a  city,  and  to  safeguard  these  chan- 
nels from  encroachment.  This  should  not  be  done  primarily 
because  they  usually  afford  one  of  the  best  opportunities 
for  parks  and  parkways,  but  because  they  enable  the  com- 
munity to  provide  adequate  channels  for  storm-water  drain- 
age. These  are  necessary  for  safety.  Without  such  reservations, 
exceptional  storms  are  almost  certain  to  cause  disastrous 
floods,  as  the  history  of  the  American  cities  illustrates. 
Another  example  of  inter-relation  is  the  way  in  which 
the  surroundings  of  parks  influence  the  character  of  th( 
parks  themselves.  Ugly  poles  and  wires,  preventable  smoke 
billboards,  and  other  nuisances  of  this  sort  destroy  tht 
very  values  that  parks  are  supposed  to  create,  and  should 
not,  therefore,  be  permitted.     Even  the  character  of  private 

[76] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

builclinj2;s  abutting  on  park  property  —  stores,  apartment 
houses,  saloons,  etc. —  should  be  reasonably  regulated.  More 
important  still  are  the  facilities  for  reaching  parks.  Many 
cities  have  postponed  the  consideration  of  this  point  until 
proper  provision  was  impossible,  or,  if  not  impossible,  very 
expensive, 

Notable  among  the  writings  on  the  larger  questions  af-  j 
fecting   public    parks   as   a    part    of    city    planning   are   the  ) 
reports   of   Olmsted    Brothers;   the   special    number   of    the  >^ 
Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of   Political  and   Social  ^ 
Science,    March,    1910,   entitled   "Public  Recreation   Facili-  \ 
ties" ;  the  papers  of  Andrew  Wright  Crawford  of   Phila- 
delphia ;  the  article  on  "The  Commercial  Value  of  Parks," 
by  W.  E.  Harmon,  in  The  Survey  of  February  26,  1910; 
the  paper  of  George  E.  Kessler  on  "The  Actual  Distribu- 
tion  of   the   Cost  of   Kansas   City   Parks" ;   the   article   by  ; 
John  Nolen  on  "Some  Examples  of  the  Influence  of  Public  | 
Parks  in   Increasing  City  Land  Values,"  Landscape  Archi-  ; 
tecture,   July,    1913;    "Can    Public    Parks    Be    Made    Self-  Ji 
Supporting?"  by  George  A.  Parker,  and  especially  the  two  \ 
papers  on  "Public  Parks"  read  before  the  American  Social  ) 
Science  Association   in    1870   and    1880  by   Frederick   Law  5 
Olmsted,  Sr.  ^^ 

PUBLIC  AND   SEMI-PUBLIC   BUILDINGS 

Public  buildings  constitute  an  essential  element  In  a  city 
plan,  and  first  of  importance  Is  their  location  with  regard 
to  the  city  as  a  whole.  They  may  be  grouped  in  one 
center,  or  in  various  centers,  according  to  the  plan  of  the 
city  and  the  local  requirern.ents.  They  are  rightly  placed 
when  grouped  In  locations  that  will  suit  economic  condi- 
tions and  when  they  are  readily  accessible  to  the  public. 

As  one  of  the  chief  ^factors  in  this  subject  is  the  growth 
of  a  city,  it  may  be  stated  as  a  principle  that  the  location 

[77] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PUNNING  OF 

of  public  buildings  should  be  designed  with  reference  to  the 
expansion  of   the  city.      Municipal   buildings,   courts,   halls 
of  record,  etc.,  naturally  find  a  place  adjacent  to  the  busi- 
i^   ness  district.     Custom  houses  and  post  offices  belong  with 
/  the  railway  or  waterway  terminals,  although  it  is  important 
1   that   the  post  office  should   also   be   readily   accessible   from 
\   the  business  district.      Public   libraries,   law   courts,   audito- 
/     riums,    and    other   buildings   of   a   similar    nafure    may   find 
[     suitable  locations  on  the  frontier  of  a  business  district,  if  not 
\  within    important    residential    districts.      In    any   case    they 
\  should  be  somewhat  removed  from  the  down-town  center. 
The  location  of  public  buildings  is  bound  up  with  the  gen- 
eral structure  of  the  city.     This  means  especially  the  street 
system  and  the  system   of  transportation,  which   is  largely 
governed  by  the  street  system.     While  building  groups  may 
be  advantageously  placed  on  prominent  streets  in  a  rectan- 
gular  system,    or   composed   with    principal   intersections   in 
the  system   of  streets,   yet   for   the  more  important  groups 
the  best  location  is  at  a  focus  of  a  number  of  streets. 

HOW  GROUPING  HELPS 

From  the  point  of  view  of  city  planning,  nothing  in  con- 
nection with  public  buildings  is  more  essential  than  a  con- 
sideration of  the  g-eneral  advantages  resulting  from  their 
proper  grouping.    These  may  be  stated  as  follows : 

1.  Additional  convenience  in  the  transaction  of  busi- 
ness. 

2.  Recognition  in  the  location  of  the  civic  center  of  one 
important  feature  of  a  natural  zone  system  with  certain 
incidental  advantages  in  building  regulations  and  fire  pro- 
tection. 

3.  Reduction  to  a  minimum  of  the  interference  of  public 
buildings  and  grounds  with  private  business  property  and 
business  interests. 

[78] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 


Walpole,  Mass.,  Public  Library 

Library  buildings  even  in  the  smallest  places  are  among  the 

best  public  features  of  American  communities 


4.  Economy  in  the  early  purchase  of  land,  which  can 
thus  be  had  in  large  quantities  at  wholesale  rates. 

5.  Better  use  of  the  same  amount  of  land  as  a  result 
of  the  grouping  of  buildings. 

6.  More  permanence  of  the  municipal  center,  and  there- 
fore greater  stability  of  land  values. 

7.  Margin  of  land  for  future  expansion  and  adjustment 
without  unnecessary  expense  as  the  need  for  additional  pub- 
lic buildings  develops. 

8.  A  reasonable  check  upon  speculative  interests,  and 
reduction  or  elimination  of  much  of  the  bitterness  due  to 
clamoring  over  the  selection  of  sites  for  each  new  public 
building.     A  logical  place  having  been  selected,  the  erection 

[79] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


Poplar  Grove,  Earswick  Garden  Village,  England 

of  buildings  from  time  to  time  follows,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
in  accordance  with  a  well-considered  scheme. 

9.  Financial  return  from  increased  taxes  due  to  the  higher 
values  of  property  near  the  established  municipal  center, 
and  to  the  erection  of  hotels,  theaters,  office  buildings,  etc., 
which  naturally  seek  the  desirable  locations  adjacent  to 
public  buildings,  and  the  open  spaces  and  parks  surrounding 
them. 

10.  Larger  dividends  from  the  money  which  the  city  in- 
vests in  architecture  and  other  forms  of  outdoor  civic  art; 
a  better  effect  is  secured  for  the  same  money,  or  an  equally 
good  effect  for  less  money,  than  would  be  the  case  with 
buildings  without   orderly   relation   to   each   other. 

11.  An  effective  combination  of  many  of  the  arts  in  a 
single  harmonious  composition.  This  combination  permits 
the  municipality  to  engage  more  highly  qualified  and  ex- 
perienced men  to  make  plans  for  its  civic  group. 


[80] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  ULLAGES 


W^'i 

1 

E3 

i^^^^^^^^^^^^L 

gm 

^^jM 

i 

12 

^^^^Hp'  '.-■'i.'us^j^^al^B 

Palmer  Park  Recreation  Center 

Recreation    centers    provide    splendid    facilities    for    social 

gatherings  and  stimulate  community  cooperatton 

and  a  spirit  of  neighborlincss 

12.  Suitable  locations  for  civic  sculpture  and  the  appro- 
priate adornment  of  open  spaces,  with  facilities  for  the 
incidental  requirements  in  the  way  of  parking  spaces  for 
automobiles,  convenient  car  exchanges,  and  public  comfort 
stations. 

13.  Above  all,  a  civic  group  stimulates  civic  pride,  and  C 
nourishes  civic  life  without  which  a  city  cannot  truly  grow 
and  flourish.  It  aids  a  city  in  its  competition  with 
other  cities ;  it  gives  form  to  community  effort,  and 
heartens,  inspires  and  guides  the  development  of  private 
property. 

[81] 


NEIV  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


In  the  planning  of  public  building  groups  the  points  of 
special  importance  to  note  are : 

1.  The  need  of  a  dominant  feature  or  building. 

2.  Provision  for  good  vistas  along  important  axes. 

3.  Right  relation  of  the  shapes  and  sizes  of  the  open  spaces 
to  the  shapes,  sizes  and  locations  of  surrounding  build- 
ings. 

4.  Harmony  of   materials   and   of   architectural  styles. 

5.  Unity  of  the  composition  as  a  whole — the  buildings, 
the  open  spaces,  the  sculpture,  fountains  and  incidental  fea- 
tures. 

6.  Distinctiveness  and  individuality.  If  possible,  each 
civic  center  should  be  expressive,  to  some  extent,  of  the 
special  character  of  the  city  itself — its  climate,  its  popu- 
lation, its  needs. 

7.  Finally,  a  permanently  satisfactory  and  convenient  civic 
center  must  have  a  proper  location  and  relation  to  the 
general  plan  of  the  city,  especially  to  the  system  of  street 
circulation,  and  to  the  retail,  amusement  and  other  sections 
used  daily  by  great  numbers  of  citizens. 

The  problem  of  a  city's  public  buildings  is  always  a 
local  one,  and  must  be  worked  out,  if  it  is  to  be  successful, 
from  a  careful  examination  of  local  conditions.  In  all  cases, 
however,  the  problems  must  be  studied  with  regard  to  the 
conditions  of  the  city  as  a  whole,  and  with  a  foresight 
that  takes  into  account  the  city's  growth.  The  conditions 
in  modern  times  are  such  as  to  require  a  recognized  general 
scheme  of  development  of  public  buildings,  and  this  rec- 
ognition must  be  given  on  the  one  hand  to  the  controlling 
conditions  of  economy,  and  on  the  other  to  those  of  the 
appropriate,  dignified  and  beautiful  expression  of  civic 
ideals. 

Special  reference  should  be  made  to  the  chapter  by  Ed- 
ward  H.   Bennett  on   "Public   Buildings  and  Quasi-Public 

[82I 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

Buildings"  in  the  National  Municipal  League  volume  on 
"City  Planning,"  19 16.  Other  references  are:  the  paper 
by  Frederick  L.  Ackerman  on  "City  Planning  and  Civic 
Design,"  Proceedings  of  National  Conference  on  City  Plan- 
ning, 1915;  Burnham  &  Bennett's  "Plan  of  Chicago," 
1907;  "The  Grouping  of  Public  Buildings,"  F.  L.  Ford, 
compiler;  "Municipal  Art  Society  of  Hartford,  Bulletin  No. 
2,"  1904;  article  by  John  Simpson  in  Municipal  Journal  and 
Engineer,  ^vXy  7,  1909. 

HOUSING 

Aside  from  questions  connected  with  the  arrangement  and 
width  of  local  streets,  the  size  of  lots  and  blocks,  and  the 
zoning  or  districting  of  a  city,  the  principal  city  planning 
problems  of  housing  are  more  or  less  directly  connected  with 
the  task  of  providing  an  adequate  supply  of  suitable  houses 
for  workingmen.  Such  a  supply  can  be  secured  only  by 
recognizing  that  housing  is  intimately  and  permanently  re- 
lated to  a  number  of  large  and  difficult  problems.  Some 
of  these  are  planning  problems,  some  are  questions  of  broad 
economic  policy.  For  example,  we  liave  the  close  relation 
between  city  planning  and  housing — how  it  is  influenced 
by  the  location  of  factories,  by  the  proper  districting  of  the 
city  and  by  other  building  regulations;  by  the  street  system, 
and  especially  by  the  means  of  transportation ;  by  the  proper 
distribution  and  development  of  parks,  playgrounds,  and 
neighborhood  facilities  for  recreation.  Many  housing 
schemes  have  been  carried  through  as  if  they  were  isolated 
phenomena,  and  thus  have  failed  of  their  purpose. 

Then,  housing  is,  of  course,  closely  related  to  the  building 
interests,  materials  of  construction,  and  tlie  loss  by  depre- 
ciation and  fire.  It  is  affected  directly  by  policies  with 
regard  to  land  and  taxation,   by  the  prevailing  practice  as 

[83] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


Y.  M.  C.  A.  Building,  Gary,  Indiana 
The  gift  of  one  of  Gary's  most  distinguished  citizens 


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[84] 


CITiES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

to  public  health  and  sanitation,  and  especially  by  standards 
of  living  and  their  dependence  upon  the  minimum  wage. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  economics — and  I  believe  that 
the  ultimate  solution  of  this  problem  is  to  come  mainly 
in  that  direction,  housing  is  big  business,  and  should  be 
handled  as  big  business  is  handled.  Building  operations  in  the 
United  States  amount  annually,  it  is  said,  to  $4,000,000,000. 
More  than  half  of  this  great  total  is  spent  in  dwell- 
ings— much  of  it,  in  fact  from  an  economic  point  of  view 
most  of  it,  is  not  well  spent  or  permanently  invested.  A 
large  percentage  of  the  houses,  especially  the  cheaper  sorts, 
are  poorly  conceived  for  their  purposes,  and  80  per  cent 
of  all  of  them  are  built  of  wood.  A  frame  house  may  be  a 
satisfactory  house  provided  the  space  between  and  around 
houses  makes  it  reasonably  safe.  Too  often  there  is  an  ex- 
cessive depreciation  and  a  fearfully  costly  fire  risk.  This 
constitutes  a  huge  economic  loss  amounting  by  the  most 
conservative  estimate  to  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars 
annually,  which  sum  must  be  paid,  as  other  carrying  charges 
are  paid,  out  of  production,  and  finally  must  come  out  of 
the  wage  earner's  pay  envelope. 

The  first  step  in  the  solution  of  this  problem  is  to  rec- 
ognize that  the  subject  is  primarily  one  for  the  right  appli- 
cation of  broad  economic  principles.  We  must  in  some 
thoroughgoing  v/ay  convert  the  great  forces  working 
through  regular  channels  which  now  produce  bad  housing, 
to  produce  good  housing,  and  we  must  do  it  by  bringing 
into  control  and  cooperation  with  them  the  forces  that 
believe  in  good  housing  and  will  gain  from  it,  which  are 
mainly  the  manufacturing  and  business  interests  that  de- 
pend upon  the  efficient  and  happy  workman.  This  great 
change  in  housing  methods  will  come,  if  it  does  come,  from 
the  substitution  for  exploitation  and  excessive  return,  of  the 
reasonable  profits  of  business,  from  tiie  transfer  of  housing 

[85] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


Streets  in   Harborne,   Birmingham,   England 
Harborne  is  a  co-partnership  suburb  of  Birmingham.     The 
co-partnership  principle  in  housing  has  not  yet  been  very 
successfully  applied  in  the  United  States,  but  it 
has  great  merits.     "Zoning"  would  protect 
residential  sections  from   undesir- 
able developments 

[86] 


CITIES,  TOll'NS  AND   I'lLLAGES 

from  the  field  of  speculation,  to  that  correspondinj^  to  legit- 
imate manufacturing.  We  shall  then  proceed  in  very  mucli 
the  same  way  that  tlie  manufacturer  proceeds.  We  shall 
want  to  know  the  facts  as  to  the  nature  and  extent  of  the 
demand.  We  shall  have  definite  aims  as  to  the  product. 
We  shall  use  skill  and  experience  and  factory  methods.  We 
shall  back  the  enterprise  with  adequate  capital  and  count 
upon  a  fair  rate  of  interest. 

Many  housing  developments  have  been  made  in  the  United 
States  by  real  estate  companies  or  investors  which  illustrate 
the  possibilities  of  combining  and  applying  city  planning 
principles  to  urban  and  suburban  development. 

While  a  good  suburban  development  is  much  more  char- 
acteristic of  the  higher  grade  residential  sections,  much  has 
been  done  also  for  low  cost  housing,  especially  by  employers 
for  their  own  employees.  The  following  is  a  list  of  some 
of  the  more  important  operations:  Akron,  Ohio,  the  Good- 
year Tire  and  Rubber  Company  and  the  Firestone  Company  ; 
North  Billerica,  Mass.,  Billerica  Garden  Suburb  Company; 
Bound  Brook,  N.  J.,  Westerly  Gardens,  Incorporated;  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio,  J.  G.  Schmidlapp ;  Fairfield,  Ala.,  U.  S.  Steel 
Corporation;  Hopedale,  Mass.,  Draper  Company;  Kenosha, 
Wis.,  Kenosha  Homes  Company,  Kenosha  Land  and  Devel- 
opment Company;  Kistler,  Pa.  (near  Mt.  Union),  Mt. 
Union  Refractories  Company;  Ludlow,  Mass.,  Ludlow 
Manufacturing  Company;  Marcus  Hook,  Pa.,  American  Vis- 
cose Company;  Middletown,  Ohio,  American  Rolling  Mill 
Company;  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Octavia  Hill  Association;  Pull- 
man, 111.,  Pullman  Company;  Roebling,  N.  J.,  J.  A.  Roeb- 
ling  Co.;  Vandergrift,  Pa.,  American  Sheet  Steel  Company; 
Walpole,  Mass.,  Neponset  Garden  Village;  Washington, 
D.  C,  Washington  Sanitary  Housing  Company ;  Wilmington, 
Del.,  Woodlawn  Company;  Woodlawn,  Pa.,  Jones  &  Laugh- 
lin  Steel  Company ;  Youngstown,  Ohio,  The  Modern  Homes 

[871 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 

Company.  A  fuller  list  is  given  in  Report  to  Bridgeport, 
Conn.,  Chamber  of  Commerce,  entitled  "More  Houses  for 
Bridgeport."  The  first  report  of  the  U.  S.  Housing  Cor- 
poration has  recently  been  issued  describing  the  war  housing 
of  the  United  States. 

LOCATING  FACTORIES  AND  HOMES 

One  of  the  most  important  city  planning  aspects  of 
housing  is  the  removal  of  the  factory  and  the  home  to  the 
city  outskirts,  thus  instituting  a  process  of  industrial  and 
residential  decentralization. 

The  main  points  for  consideration  in  this  process  are 
the  following: 

1.  What  location  generally  is  the  best  for  factories  in 
order  to  secure  factory  efficiency? 

2.  What  location  for  factories  and  for  homes  for  fac- 
tory employees  is  most  advantageous  for  the  city  as  a 
whole  ? 

3.  Most  fundamental  of  all,  assuming  that  factories  are 
located  on  the  outskirts  of  a  city,  where  should  the  men  and 
women  employed  in  these  factories  be  encouraged  to  live? 

( 1 )  The  first  question  is  concerned  with  factory  effi- 
ciency. So  far  as  location  goes,  the  main  items  that  deter- 
mine factory  efficiency  are  as  follows:  (a)  cheap  land; 
(b)  land  in  large  blocks,  unbroken  and  uninterrupted  by 
public  streets;  (c)  ample  and  convenient  freight  facilities 
and  railroad  sidings;  (d)  success  in  obtaining  and  holding 
employees  who  are  well  housed  at  low  rates  in  a  good  en- 
vironment. 

(2)  The  second  important  question  is,  what  location  for 
factories  and  for  homes  for  employees  in  factories  is  most 
advantageous  for  the  city  as  a  whole?  This  question  may 
be  answered  in  favor  of  the  outskirts,  for  three  reasons : 
(a)   the  city  needs  its  centrally  located  land   for   business 

[88] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

and  commercial  purposes;  (b)  so  far  as  possible  the  city's 
streets  should  be  relieved  from  the  unnecessary  hauling  of 
raw  materials  of  the  factory's  products  to  and  from  the 
factory  through  the  built-up  city;  (c)  it  is  desirable  that 
the  central  city  should  be  free  from  smoke  and  other  nui- 
sances often  associated  with  factories.  It  is  this  point  of 
view  largely  that  has  justified  the  establishing  of  the  out- 
lying industrial  zone  so  common  in  European  cities. 

(3)  The  most  fundamental  inquiry,  however,  is  the  ques- 
tion of  the  location  of  the  homes  of  factory  employees.  The 
more  important  advantages  that  are  assured  to  workmen's 
homes  in  the  outskirts  as  against  homes  in  the  city  are  as 
follows:  (a)  the  opportunity  for  relatively  cheap  land; 
(b)  proximity  to  the  factory,  and  the  incidental  saving  of 
time  and  carfare;  (c)  a  home  in  the  outskirts  will  place 
a  workman  close  to  the  country,  and  to  the  city's  outlying 
parks. 

The  following  references  are  of  special  interest  in  con- 
nection with  the  relation  of  housing  to  city  planning  as 
discussed  above:  Proceedings  of  National  Housing  Asso- 
ciation; Ewart  G.  Culpin's  "The  Garden  City  Move- 
ment Up-to-Date,"  London,  191 2;  "The  Housing  Prob- 
lem, a  Summary  of  Conditions  and  Remedies,"  by  James 
Ford,  Publications  of  the  Department  of  Social  Ethics  in 
Harvard  University,  No.  5,  1911;  "The  Improvement  of 
the  Dwellings  and  Surroundings  of  the  People,"  by  T.  C. 
Horsfall,  Manchester,  1905;  "Garden  Cities  of  Tomor- 
row," Ebenezer  Howard,  London,  1902;  "Satellite  Cities," 
by  Graham  Romeyn  Taylor,  1915;  "Nothing  Gained  by 
Overcrowding,"  by  Raymond  Unwin,  London,  1912  ;  "Good 
Home  for  Every  Wage  Earner,"  by  John  Nolen,  American 
Civic  Association,  191 7;  "The  Industrial  Village,"  by  John 
Nolen,  National  Housing  Association,  1918;  "The  Hous- 
ing Problem  in  War  and  in  Peace,"  published  by  the  Journal 

[89I 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 

of  the  American  Institute  of  Architects,  191 8.  The  writings 
of  Lawrence  Veiller,  Secretary  and  Director  of  the  Na- 
tional Housing  Association,  are  of  outstanding  importance. 

LAND  SUBDIVISION 

Broadly  speaking,  city  land,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
city  planning,  may  be  put  into  three  main  classes,  namely : 
land  for  industrial  use,  land  for  retail  and  wholesale  busi- 
ness, and  land  for  residential  purposes. 

The  subdivision  of  land  for  industrial  use  varies  so  much 
with  the  different  requirements  of  industries  that  it  is  not 
possible  to  set  down  any  rules  for  its  laying  out  except 
those  that  are  common  to  all  planning  that  has  to  do  with 
land.  Some  industries  can  be  well  accommodated  on  an 
ordinary  city  lot,  while  others  require  hundreds  of  acres, 
portions  of  it  in  large  blocks  undivided  by  public  streets. 
It  is  more  and  more  evident  that  economic  and  other  ad- 
vantages, especially  in  the  case  of  large  industries,  follow 
from  the  location  of  such  establishments  away  from  the 
densely  built-up  sections  of  cities. 

Retail  business  property  also  varies  in  its  requirements 
as  to  land,  but  not  to  so  great  an  extent  as  property  for 
industrial  use.  Except  in  the  case  of  new  cities,  laid  out 
in  advance  of  settlement,  city  business  buildings  usually 
occupy  land  that  was  originally  laid  out  for  residential  use. 
The  business  districts  of  our  cities  grow  naturally  by 
extending  more  and  more  into  surrounding  residential  neigh- 
borhoods. It  is  this  fact  which  makes  important  the  rea- 
sonable adaptability,  if  need  be,  of  residential  property  for 
business  purposes.  As  a  general  rule,  business  has  much  less 
choice  than  industries  and  residences  in  the  selection  of 
localities  In  which  it  may  be  successfully  established.  The 
locations  for  business  are  determined  largely  by  the  street 
and  transportation  system,  by  street  widths  and  grades,  and 

[90] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

by  proximity  to  existing  business  centers.     Normal  business    ^ 
requirements  are  fairly  well  met  by  such  lot  units  as  those    ^ 
typical  of  New  York  City,  which  are  uniformly   lOO  feet     ' 
deep,  and  25  feet  wide  in  Manhattan  and  the  Bronx,  and 
20  feet  wide  in  Brooklyn,  Queens  and  Richmond. 

The  principal  field  of  land  subdivision,  however,  the 
class  which  concerns  at  least  two-thirds  of  all  city  land,  is 
residential  property.  In  fact,  when  land  subdivision  is 
spoken  of,  it  is  ordinarily  assumed  that  it  refers  to  the 
laying  out  of  land  for  dwellings.  The  evils  of  undesirable 
and  unintelligent  land  subdivision  in  the  case  of  residential 
property  are  also  more  apparent  and  more  in  the  public  eye, 
although  perhaps  not  more  important,  than  in  the  case  of 
industrial  and  business  property.  There  is  a  widespread 
feeling  in  this  country  and  abroad  that  city  planning  has 
thought  more  of  streets,  of  civic  centers,  of  parks  and  play- 
grounds, and  of  other  subjects,  than  it  has  of  housing. 

The  central  problem  of  land  subdivision,  we  believe,  is 
public  regulation,  control,  and  restriction.  In  fairness  to 
all  concerned,  what  should  the  real  estate  operator  be  al- 
lowed to  do  in  this  very  important  matter  of  dividing  up 
and  selling  his  property,  cutting  up  land  upon  which 
people  are  to  dwell  for  ages  to  come,  changing  agricultural 
acres  wholesale  into  a  form  from  which  they  can  be  changed 
again,  if  at  all,  only  at  great  cost? 

The  principle  of  restrictions  in  the  subdivision  and  use 
of  land  is  well  understood  in  the  United  States,  and  very 
frequently  applied.  In  fact,  it  is  so  well  understood  and 
so  higlily  valued  that  it  is  most  often  applied  in  a  sur- 
prisingly thoroughgoing  way  by  the  real  estate  operator  in 
his  own  interest.  The  restrictions  placed  upon  the  purchaser 
in  the  conveyance  of  the  property  often  include  a  long  list 
of  kinds  of  business  which  are  classified  as  nuisances,  and 
which  may  not  be  established  or  maintained  upon  the  prop- 

[91] 


NEir  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


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An  Interesting  Example  of  Land  Subdivision 

Plan  receiving  first  prize  in  the  competition  for  the  subdivision 

of  a  quarter-section  of  land  carried  on  by  the 

Chicago  City  Club 


[92] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 


erty.  These  restrictions  or  "safeguards"  are  often  placed 
for  a  period  of  twenty-five  years  or  more,  with  the  right  of 
renewal  subject  to  the  assent  of  the  owners.  But  can  we 
depend  entirely  upon  the  knowledge,  skill,  and  motive  of 
the  owner  or  operator  to  subdivide  the  land  and  place  the 
restrictions?  At  best,  his  action  is  uncertain.  It  is  applied 
only  in  spots,  often  spasmodically,  and  even  when  most 
"public-spirited,"  as  we  say,  it  is  not  always  intelligent. 
Again,  his  chief  motive  must  be  profit.  He  cannot  reason- 
ably be  expected  to  have  consistent  and  permanent  concern 
either  for  the  results  of  his  methods  upon  the  future  occu- 
pants of  the  property  or  upon  the  general  public.  Then, 
may  we  not  add,  he  does  not  always  know  what  is  best ;  and 
if  he  did,  Jiot  owning  or  controlling  all  the  property  of  the 
city  or  town,  or  even  a  large  percentage  of  it,  he  would  not 
be  able  to  make  his  knowledge  effective.  Furthermore,  he 
has  only  the  power  of  a  ^private  citizen. 

There  are,  of  course,  technical  problems  involved  in  land 
subdivision,  and  their  solution  requires  skill  and  experience. 
Furthermore,  these  problems  of  land  subdivision  are  related 
to  still  wider  and  more  difficult  technical  problems  of  city 
planning,  city  building,  maintenance,  and  administration,  all 
requiring  still  greater  skill,  knowledge,  and  experience. 

Land  subdivision,  as  the  term  is  used  by  landscape  archi-  / 
tects  and  engineers,   determines  the  location  and  width  of 
streets,   roads,   alleys,   and  other  open  spaces;  the  location,  1 
depth  and  length  of  blocks;  the  location  of  lot  lines,  and 
other  physical  features.     When  the  subdivision  is  made  upon    ) 
the    Initiative   of    the    real   estate   operator,    and    sometimes 
when  it  is  made  upon  the  initiative  of  public  authority,   it   J 
deternu'nes   also    building   lines,    restrictions,    and   conditions 
of  development. 


[93] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 

THE  RIGHT  WAY  TO  DO  IT 

Some  of  the  underlying  principles  of  land  subdivision 
generally  accepted  as  sound  may  be  briefly  stated  as  fol- 
lows : 

1.  The  plan  for  the  subdivision  of  property  should  fit 
the  topography,  and  give  due  consideration  to  natural  fea- 
tures. 

2.  Even  if  the  land  is  relatively  level,  the  plan  should 
nevertheless  have  interest,  good  organization  and  design. 
The  point  of  view  that  leads  to  a  good  arrangement  on 
hilly  ground  gives  also  a  good  arrangement  on  level  land. 

3.  The  use  that  is  to  be  made  of  the  land  should  deter- 
mine its  general  plan  and  restrictions.  There  is  no  plan 
that  is  best  for  all  places,  nor  for  the  same  place  for  all 
time.  IVIerit  is  largely  a  question  of  fitness  for  its  original 
purpose,  and  its  adaptability  for  probable  future  purposes. 

4.  Thoroughfares,  and  other  broadly  related  city  planning 
features,  should  be  located  first,  and  within  these  lines,  and 
in  conformity  to  them,  local  streets,  blocks  and  lots  should 
be  defined  in  the  best  possible  manner. 

5.  The  various  standards  for  various  classes  of  property, 
the  lot  widths  and  lot  depths,  the  block  widths  and  block 
depths,  recognized  by  the  best  authorities,  should  be  ap- 
plied with  skill  and  discrimination.  These  are  by  no  means 
absolute  or  fixed ;  they  are  still  open  to  discussion,  and  in 
each  case  are  largely  matters  of  nice  judgment. 

6.  An  increase  of  lots  or  residence  sites  by  new  land  sub- 
divisions, and  of  the  necessary  streets,  should  be  accompanied 
by  a  corresponding  increase  of  playgrounds,  parks,  and  other 
indispensable  public  features  required  by  the  probable  pop- 
ulation of  the  area  when  fully  built  up. 

7.  The  interests  of  the  real  estate  operator,  of  the  pros- 
pective owner   or  user,   and   of   the  general  public,   should 

[94] 


CITIES,  TOHNS  AND  J' ILL  AGES 

be  harmonized  as  far  as  possible.  In  most  cases,  this  is  not 
so  difficult  as  it  might  seem.  While  the  immediate  interests 
of  the  three  parties  are  not  identical,  they  are  not  in  the 
long  run  normally  in  conflict. 

8.  A  plan  for  dividing  land  must  consider  not  only  im- 
mediate use,  but  also  probable  subsequent  use,  administra- 
tion, and  maintenance,  and  must,  so  far  as  possible,  fore- 
cast and  provide  for  it.  This  may  be  done  in  part  by  the 
plan  itself,  and  in  part  bj-  binding  restrictions  and  conditions, 
providing  for  permanency,  or  it  may  anticipate  a  change 
or  conversion   into  a  different  use. 

Special  mention  should  be  made  of  the  chapters  on  "The 
Subdivision  of  Land"  and  "Residential  and  Industrial  De- 
centralization" in  the  volume  on  "City  Planning"  in  Na- 
tional Municipal  League  Series;  also  to  the  following:  the 
article  by  Andrew  Wright  Crawford  on  "The  Interrelation 
of  Housing  and  City  Planning,"  Annals  of  flic  American 
Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science,  January,  1914; 
"Progress  and  Poverty,"  by  Henry  George;  "Principles  of 
City  Land  Values,"  by  Richard  M.  Hurd ;  Report  of  the 
Committee  on  City  Planning  Study  to  the  National  Con- 
ference on  City  Planning,  Chicago,  1913;  Proceedings  of 
the  National  Conference  on  Housing,  191 1  to  date;  article 
by  John  Nolen  on  "The  Factory  and  the  Home,"  Proceed- 
ings of  the  National  Housing  Association,  1912;  paper  by 
Lawrence  Veiller,  in  Proceedings  of  the  National  Confer- 
ence on  City  Planning,  191 1;  also  "Housing  Reform:  A 
Handbook  for  Practical  Use  in  American  Cities,"  New 
York,  19 10,  and  "A  Housing  Programme,"  a  National 
Housing  Association  Publication,  June,  191 2,  by  the  same 
author,  and  "City  Residential  Land  Development — Studies 
in  Planning,"  edited  by  Alfred  B.  Yeomans;  "Tlie  Indus- 
trial Village,"  by  John  Nolen,  National  Housing  Associa- 
tion,  191 8. 


/ 

{ 


NFJV  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 

ZONES  OR  BUILDING  DISTRICTS 

The  districting  or  zoning  of  a  city  is,  or  should  be,  one 
of  the  three  fundamental  parts  of  every  comprehensive  city 
plan.  The  other  two  are:  channels  of  transportation,  in- 
cluding railroads,  streets  and  waterways;  and  public  open 
spaces,  parks,  playgrounds,  etc.  Districting  is  as  far-reach- 
ing and  important  as  each  of  the  others,  but  it  is  singular 
in  this  point,  that  it  costs  the  city  nothing  to  put  it  into 
execution.  The  other  fundamental  features  of  a  city  plan 
are  costly.  The  cost,  I  believe,  is  fully  justified,  and  may 
actually  afford  a  net  income.  But  districting  involves  no 
cost  other  than  the  trifling  sum  needed  for  the  study  of 
the  problem  and  the  preparation  of  a  plan.  In  fact,  if 
the  districting  is  wise,  it  will  afford  not  only  stability,  but 
additional  income  to  property  owners,  and  also  to  the  city. 
Such  a  plan  for  districting  should  be  part  of  a  compre- 
hensive city  plan,  as  the  New  York  Committee  has  advocated. 
Provision  for  main  thoroughfares  and  for  rapid  transit,  the 
selection  of  land  for  parks,  and  other  features  of  a  city 
plan,  will  surely  affect  the  districting  of  the  city. 

The  action  of  the  City  of  New  York  in  approving  the 
report  of  the  Commission  on  Building  Districts  and  Re- 
strictions is,  perhaps,  the  most  important  single  step  that 
has  been  taken  in  this  country  in  the  planning  of  cities. 
The  principles  which  are  fundamental  in  the  Commission's 
plan  are  as  follows:  i.  Provision  for  light  and  air  is  a 
primary  essential  in  building  regulation.  2.  Building  reg- 
ulations in  each  section  of  the  city  should  be  adapted  to  the 
requirements  of  that  section.  3.  It  is  desirable,  as  a 
general  rule,  to  treat  all  buildings  in  a  given  block  according 
to  a  uniform  rule,  because  there  should  be  a  substantially 
uniform  contribution  from  each  owner  to  the  light  and  air 
of  the  block.     4,     A  building  is  usually  appropriately  located 

[96] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

when  it  is  surrounded  by  buildings  of  similar  type  and  use. 
Order  in  building  development  is  essential  to  the  health, 
safety  and  comfort  of  the  public,  and  the  best  means  of 
conserving  and  enhancing  values.  5.  All  residence  sections 
should  be  protected  against  unnecessary  invasion  by  commer- 
cial and  industrial  users. 

The  gist  of  the  New  York  regulations  may  be  stated 
as  follows:  all  future  buildings  will  be  restricted  as  to 
their  height,  size  and  use,  the  restrictions  being  different 
in  different  parts  of  the  city;  the  height  of  buildings  will 
vary  with  the  width  of  the  street,  from  one  time  to  two 
and  one-half  times,  with  exceptions  for  buildings  set  back 
from  the  street  line  and  for  towers ;  specified  areas  of  open 
space  are  required  in  the  different  zones  for  yards  and 
courts,  these  automatically  increasing  with  the  increased' 
height  of  the  buildings ;  in  use,  residence  and  business  districts 
will  be  reasonably  protected  from  the  invasion  of  industry  and 
manufacturing.  The  law  is  not  retroactive.  It  applies  only 
to  the  future,  and  reasonable  changes  in  the  law  have  been 
provided  for.  Nothing  is  said  about  the  effect  of  the  law 
on  the  appearance  of  the  city  in  the  sense  of  making  it 
more  beautiful,  but  it  is  recognized  that  the  result  will 
be  a  more  orderly  and  more  harmonious  city,  and  therefore 
more  attractive. 

A  point  of  controlling  importance  is  the  fact  that  the  law- 
is  administered  under  the  police  power  of  the  state  without 
compensation  to  property  owners  for  the  effect  of  its  regu- 
lations upon  the  value  of  their  property.  Fortunately  for 
those  interested  in  this  movement,  a  recent  decision  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court  upholding  the  right  of  the 
City  of  Los  Angeles  to  remove  a  manufacturing  plant 
from  a  residential  district  fixes  the  essential  principle  in- 
volved in  the  establishment  of  differentiated  building  dis- 
tricts.    Justice  McKenna  said,  in  rendering  this  opinion,  "A 

[97] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


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[98] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

vested  interest  cannot  be  asserted  against  the  police  power 
of  a  state  because  of  conditions  once  obtaining.  To  so  hold 
would  preclude  development  and  fix  a  city  forever  in  its 
primitive  conditions.  There  must  be  progress,  and  if  in 
its  march  private  interests  are  in  the  way,  they  must  yield 
to  the  good  of  the  community."  It  may  be  added  that 
the  New  York  Commission  in  doing  its  work  held  to  an 
extremely  conservative  point  of  view,  even  for  New  York 
conditions,  and  tested  each  proposal  with  a  query  as  to 
whether  it  would  tend  to  improve  health,  safety,  and 
general  welfare. 

The  disappointment  in  the  New  York  law,  among  those 
interested  in  the  improvement  of  cities,  is  in  the  low  stand- 
ard that  existing  conditions  made  it  necessary  apparently 
for  New  York  to  adopt.  While  the  principles  are  sound 
and  the  methods  of  procedure  worthy  of  the  highest  praise, 
the  standards  established  by  New  York,  if  followed  by  any 
other  city  in  the  United  States,  with  possibly  one  or  two 
exceptions,  will  be  harmful  rather  than  beneficial.  One  has 
but  to  compare  the  regulations  of  a  European  city  with  those 
recently  adopted  in  New  York  by  the  Districting  Commis- 
sion to  realize  how  far  we  have  fallen  in  our  city  building 
methods. 

It  is  surprising  that  so  few  American  cities  have  acted 
in  this  matter.  It  is  now  the  one  great  outstanding  oppor- 
tunity in  city  planning.  The  New  York  principles  point 
the  way,  and  the  courts  have  given  an  unqualified  endorse- 
ment as  to  legality.  The  public  mind  is  awakened.  Con- 
ditions are  peculiarly  favorable.  Action  should  follow 
rapidly,  but  it  should  be  based  upon  a  survey  of  local  con- 
ditions and  be  accompanied  by  a  comprehensive  city  plan  of 
which  the  districting  should  be  an  integral  part,  perhaps  the 
principal  part,  so  far  as  immediate  action  is  concerned. 

Further  discussion  of  questions  relating  to  the  establish- 

[99] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


ment  of  building  districts  or  zones  in  cities  can  be  had  in 
the  writings  of  Frank  B.  Williams,  Lawson  Purdy,  Robert 
H.  Whitten  and  others.  Note  especially:  "Legal  Methods 
of  Carrying  Out  the  Changes  Proposed  in  the  City  Plan 
for  Bridgeport,"  by  Frank  B.  Williams.  This  same  sub- 
ject is  ably  presented  in  brief  form  in  an  article  by  George 
B.  Ford  in  Landscape  Architecture  for  October,  1916.  An- 
other important  reference  is  the  volume  by  Flavel  Shurtleff 
and  F.  L.  Olmsted  entitled  "Carrying  Out  the  City  Plan." 


[100] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 


Chapter  6 

Legislation  and  City  Plan  Authorities 

In  an  address  on  City  Planning  Law  in  the  United  States, 
Frank  B.  Williams,  of  New  York,  has  discussed  the  gen- 
eral principles,  pointing  out  that  the  power  to  plan  cities, 
in  common  with  all  power  over  subdivisions  of  the  country 
or  state,  belongs  to  the  state  itself.  In  a  government  like  ours, 
the  sovereign  states  surrender  to  the  Federal  Government  only 
the  power  over  certain  specified  subjects  of  general  concern, 
retaining  each  to  itself,  power  over  matters  of  state  concern. 
In  the  main,  municipal  government  including  city  planning 
is  a  matter  to  be  dealt  with  by  the  individual  states. 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  recently  about  the  right 
of  municipalities  to  local  self-government.  Within  certain 
limits,  as  yet  very  imperfectly  defined,  cities  should  have  the 
power  to  control  their  local  affairs,  and  there  is  a  growing 
tendency  to  give  them  this  -power  in  city  planning,  as  in 
other  matters.  Legally,  however,  localities  are  entitled  to 
exercise  governmental  functions  only  in  so  far  as  the  sover- 
eign state  has  bestowed  them  upon  the  city  or  town. 

One  of  the  big  questions  in  legislation  is  the  city  planning 
agency.  In  American  city  government,  almost  every  ex- 
pansion of  public  activity  is  initiated  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  a  new  board  or  commission.  Existing  officials 
are  already  loaded  with  work,  and  it  is  thought  that  they 
will  have  neither  the  time,  the  inclination,  nor  perhaps  the 
ability  to  develop  the  new  idea.  A  new  commission,  com- 
posed  usually  of  unpaid   members,   therefore,   is  employed. 

[lOl] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 

If  the  new  function  takes  root  as  a  permanent  institution, 
the  commission  becomes  permanent,  and  sooner  or  later 
is  merged  with  the  general  governmental  organization. 

The  city  planning  movement  is  no  exception  to  this  rule. 
Commissions  have  already  been  appointed  or  organized  in 
many  cities,  some  official  and  some  unofficial,  and  one  of 
the  most  vital  questions  in  connection  with  city  planning 
at  the  present  time  is  the  character  and  power  of  the 
agency  which  should  be  used  to  do  the  city  planning  work. 

Some  of  the  tentative  conclusions  in  connection  with  city 
planning  commissions  are  the  following: 

1.  It  is  considered  better,  on  the  whole,  to  have  a  com- 
mission made  up  mainly  if  not  entirely  of  lay  members. 

2.  The  types  of  men  on  the  city  plan  commission  should 
include  representatives  of  the  business,  professional,  and 
perhaps  also  of  the  laboring  classes.  It  is  likewise  impor- 
tant to  consider  whether  there  should  not  be  some  women 
members. 

3.  The  term  of  members  should  be  long  enough  to  give 
stability  to  the  work,  and  should  overlap,  so  as  to  provide 
reasonable  continuity  of  policy. 

4.  The  question  of  payment  of  members  of  the  com- 
mission is  a  mooted  one.  Much  would  depend  upon  the 
size  of  the  place,  the  state  of  development  of  the  work, 
and  the  amount  of  time  required.  In  the  beginning  it 
would  probably  be  better  to  have  unpaid  commissioners. 

5.  One  of  the  best  methods  of  advancing  the  city  plan- 
ning work  is  to  provide  a  city  plan  office,  with  an  engineer, 
landscape  architect,  or  city  planner  in  charge ;  a  secretary 
for  clerical  work,  and  other  necessary  assistants.  The  two 
principal  functions  of  the  city  plan  office  would  be  the 
collection  of  local  data,  and  the  preparation  under  the 
direction  of  experts  of  a  comprehensive  city  plan.  Local 
data  and  the  city  plan  should   both   be  constantly   revised 

[102] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  JTLLAGES 

and    kept    up    to    date.      Authority    to    employ    experts    or 
technical  assistants  would  be  involved  in  a  city  plan  office. 

6.  The  question  of  annual  appropriation  for  city  -plan- 
ning depends  greatly,  of  course,  upon  the  city  planning  pro- 
gram which  confronts  the  city  under  consideration.  It  is 
safe  to  say  that  an  efficient  city  plan  office  for  a  city  of 
100,000  population  would  require,  for  routine  work,  an 
annual  appropriation  of  $10,000  or  more,  and  that  relatively 
large  cities  ought  to  have  $50,000. 

7.  The  procedure  necessary  to  make  the  city  plan  effective 
is  difficult  to  outline  briefly,  as  it  involves  the  whole  ques- 
tion of  the  organization  of  government.  In  general,  final 
authority  should  rest  with  the  city  government.  It  would 
probably  be  well  to  require  that  a  veto  of  a  project  by  the 
city  plan  commission  could  be  overridden  by  the  city  gov- 
ernment only  by  a  two-thirds  vote,  or,  at  any  rate,  by  a 
repassage  of  the  measure.  The  only  exception  in  the 
matter  of  control  by  the  city  government  might  properly 
be  the  approval  of  new  plans  for  the  extension  of  the  city. 

8.  A  complete  city  planning  organization  requires,  it 
would  seem,  a  state  planning  board  or  department  of  mu- 
nicipal affairs.  Like  many  other  state  boards,  such  a 
planning  board  or  department  dealing  with  city  govern- 
ment might  be  largely  advisory.'  An  exception,  perhaps, 
should  be  in  dealing  with  those  matters  which  concern  two 
or  more  political  jurisdictions.  Such  a  state  board  would 
be  a  great  help  in  the  solution  of  city  planning  problems 
beyond  the  city  limits,  and  in  dealing  with  the  towns  and 
smaller  cities. 

In  order  that  city  construction  may  be  intelligently  car- 
ried on,  it  is  necessary  that  there  should  be  a  plan  of  the 
city  as  a  whole,  by  which  the  .pkfnning  of  any  part  or 
detail  of  it  at  any  time  may  be  guided.  The  making  of  the 
plan,  however,  does  not  of  itself  in  any  way  control  city 

[103] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


construction.  Therefore  cities  are  beginning  to  insert  in 
their  charters  the  provision  for  the  adoption  officially  of 
a  city  plan,  the  effect  of  which  is  to  make  it  unlawful  for 
any  official  or  city  employee  to  depart  in  city  construction 
from  the  plan  adopted.  The  power  officially  to  adopt  or 
change  the  city  plan  should  be  lodged  with  the  common 
council,  or  other  regular  city  authority. 

One  useful,  if  not  indispensable,  power  in  the  construction 
of  the  public  features  of  a  city  is  that  of  excess  condemna- 
tion. Under  our  national  and  state  constitutions,  -private 
property  may  be  lawfully  taken  only  for  public  use.  In 
constructing  a  street,  a  park,  or  almost  any  other  public 
works,  it  is  often  desirable  to  take  land  outside  the  physical 
limits  of  the  main  improvements.  This  is  done  for  some 
purpose  regarded  as  incidental  to  the  principal  enterprise. 

The  early  advocates  of  excess  or  incidental  condemnation 
urged  it  chiefly  as  a  method  of  recouping  a  part  of  the  cost 
of  public  works.  This  phase  of  the  subject  is  considered  in 
the  next  chapter.  The  greatest  need  of  excess  condemnation, 
however,  is  as  a  method  of  controlling  the  land  adjacent  to 
a  public  improvement.  For  example,  the  cutting  through  of 
new  streets  or  the  widening  of  existing  ones  necessarily  leaves 
outside  the  lines  of  the  street  remnants  of  lots  of  such  a  size 
and  shape  as  to  be  unsuitable  for  building.  For  this  reason 
the  city  without  the  power  of  excess  condemnation  often  pays 
the  owner  of  the  lot  nearly  the  value  of  the  entire  lot.  The 
remnant  itself  is  unsuited  to  development,  and  shuts  ofif  the 
property  back  of  it  from  the  street  and  prevents  its  improve- 
ment also. 

The  guidance  of  private  development  is  an  important 
field  of  public  control  by  legislation.  In  the  absence  of 
such  control  it  is  impossible  to  insure  proper  city  develop- 
ment. 

Building  regulations  to  secure  light  and  air,  so  necessary 

[104] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

for  the  public  health,  are  by  no  means  new,  but  it  is  only 
in  comparatively  recent  times  that  the  importance  of  light 
and  air  in  great  abundance  has  been  fully  realized.  There- 
fore, not  only  to  prevent  fire,  but  to  furnish  sufficient  light 
and  air  and  sunshine  in  the  interest  of  public  health, 
building  regulations  limiting  the  size  of  structures  with  re- 
lation to  the  lots  they  occupy  are  essential  in  the  planning 
of  the  modern  city. 

There  has  also  come  the  recognition  recently  that  it  is 
practically  impossible  to  enact  fair  and  adequate  building 
regulations  which  shall  be  the  same  for  the  entire  city.  In 
all  cities  there  are  districts  where  there  is  great  concen- 
tration. To  pass  regulations  securing  for  land  that  is  vacant 
in  such  districts  anything  like  adequate  light  and  air  would 
be  to  discriminate  sharply  between  occupied  and  unoccupied 
lots  in  these  districts.  On  the  other  hand,  any  regulation 
that  would  be  fair  to  these  congested  districts  would  be 
practically  inoperative  in  sections  of  the  city  where  values 
neither  demand  nor  warrant  such  intensity.  The  only  regu- 
lations at  the  same  time  reasonable  and  generally  effective 
are  those  varying  with  the  varying  land  values  and  con- 
ditions of  the  different  parts  of  the  city.  Thus  districting 
is  the  only  practical  method  of  preventing  the  spread  of 
congestion. 

There  is  no  phase  of  city  planning  legislation  more  im- 
portant than  that  relating  to  the  obtaining  of  the  necessary 
money  by  methods  that  are  just,  and  will  not  create  hard- 
ships. Of  all  the  methods,  the  one  that  is  most  just,  that 
may  be  applied  with  the  least  hardship,  is  that  of  local  or 
benefit  assessment.  This  method  prevails  in  most  cities, 
and  has  been  applied  with  regard  to  the  construction  of 
streets,  sewers,  etc.,  also  public  parks  and  civic  centers. 
There  is  no  reason  why  its  application  should  be  limited  to 
the    fields   which    it    now    occupies.      The    broad    principle 

[i05l 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 

should  be  recognized,  as  Mr.  Nelson  P.  Lewis,  of  the  New 
York  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment,  has  well  said, 
that  where  there  is  local  benefit,  there  should  be  local  as- 
sessment. 

Other  important  subjects  in  connection  with  legislation 
and  the  raising  of  money  for  large  public  improvements  are 
the  legal  limit  of  city  indebtedness,  borrowing  on  local  as- 
sessments, and  the  place  of  self-supporting  improvements  in 
estimating  a  city's  liabilities  and  their  effect  upon  the  debt 
limit. 

The  most  valuable  single  book  dealing  with  the  subject 
of  legislation  has  been  issued  by  the  Russell  Sage  Founda- 
tion. It  is  entitled  "Carrying  Out  the  City  Plan,"  and 
gives  the  practical  application  of  American  law  in  the 
execution  of  city  plans.  The  author  is  Flavel  Shurtleff, 
and  the  work  was  done  in  collaboration  with  Frederick  Law 
Olmsted.  The  book  deals  with  public  ownership  of  land, 
the  acquisition  of  land,  the  distribution  of  the  cost  of  land 
acquirement,  excess  condemnation,  the  use  of  the  police 
power  in  the  execution  of  a  city  plan,  and  the  work  of 
administrative  agencies.  The  appendices  give  legislation  and 
decisions,  and  extracts  from  a  report  on  English  and  Con- 
tinental systems  of  taking  land  for  public  purposes. 

The  most  concrete  illustration  of  legal  methods  of  car- 
rying out  city  planning  proposals  has  been  prepared  by 
Frank  B.  Williams  in  connection  with  the  city  plan  for 
Bridgeport,  Conn.,  issued  in   1916. 

Other  references  of  special  value  are  to  be  found  in  the 
report  of  Walter  L.  Fisher  on  "Legal  Aspects  of  the  Plan 
of  Chicago,"  1909,  and  Charles  Mulford  Robinson's  vol- 
ume on  "City  Planning,"  which  contains  five  chapters  on 
city  planning  legislation. 


[106] 


CITIES.  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 


Chapter  J 

The  Cost  of  City  Planning 

There  are  two  ways  of  considering  the  cost  of  city  plan- 
ning. The  first  would  be  merely  the  cost  of  making  city 
plans,  which  is  relatively  a  small  sum,  even  for  the  largest 
cities.  There  is  an  urgent  need  to  provide  an  appropria- 
tion sufficient  for  the  preparation  of  a  comprehensive  city 
plan  of  a  general  character  for  all  cities.  In  fact,  it  should 
be  extended  to  towns,  and  even  villages.  There  is  a  need 
also  for  a  permanent  city  plan  office  which  would  do  the 
routine  work  of  city  planning  after  a  comprehensive  city 
plan  had  been  prepared.  Such  an  office  would  keep  the 
plan  up  to  date,  and  would  also  continue  regularly  the 
collection  of  the  fundamental  data  upon  which  good  plan- 
ning should  be  based. 

The  other  way  of  considering  the  cost  of  city  planning, 
however,  is  that  involved  in  connection  with  the  carrying 
out  of  public  improvements.  Of  course,  the  cost  of  most 
of  these  improvements  must  be  provided,  with  or  without 
comprehensive  planning.  City  planning  does  not  neces- 
sarily involve  an  increase  in  these  expenditures.  In  fact, 
the  figures  for  a  long  period,  assuming  that  the  same  stand- 
ards are  applied,  would  usually  show  a  decrease  in  the  cost 
of  carrying  out  public  improvements  under  a  city  plan,  as 
against  carrying  them  out  without  such  a  plan.  City  plan- 
ning really  pays. 

With  the  physical  growth  of  a  city  there  has  not  always 
been   a   corresponding  development   of   a   financial   plan   to 

[107] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


meet  larger  needs.  The  responsibility  of  the  city  planning 
agency  is  not  only  to  show  the  soundness  of  its  suggestions 
for  the  physical  improvement  of  a  city,  but  also  to  present 
a  plan  for  financing  them. 

The  principal  methods  available  for  financing  great  pub- 
lic .projects  of  cities  are  bond  issues,  special  assessments,  and 
excess  condemnation. 

The  limit  of  a  city's  borrowing  ability,  that  is,  the 
amount  of  net  indebtedness  which  cannot  be  exceeded,  is 
generally  fixed  either  in  the  state  constitution  or  city  char- 
ter, as  a  certain  per  cent  of  a  city's  assessed  valuation.  This 
percentage  varies  greatly,  being  as  high  as  ten,  and  as  low 
as  two.  Where  the  limit  of  bonded  indebtedness  is  under 
five  per  cent  of  the  assessed  valuation,  the  requirements 
of  municipal  life,  according  to  American  standards,  can 
scarcely  be  provided.  It  has  become  a  general  practice  in 
defining  what  is  meant  by  net  indebtedness  or  borrowing 
ability  to  exclude  the  bond  issues  which  are  made  for  self- 
supporting  utilities ;  for  example,  for  water  and  lighting. 

The  terms  of  years  for  which  bonds  should  be  issued  for 
various  city  purposes  is  an  important  factor  in  their  actual 
cost,  and  the  amount  that  can  be  safely  issued.  This  is 
well  illustrated  in  a  paper  presented  at  the  Sixth  National 
Conference  on  City  Planning  by  Andrew  Wright  Crawford, 
of  the  Philadelphia  Bar,  in  which  he  pointed  out  that  the 
efficient  life  of  a  thing  constructed  by  the  proceeds  of 
municipal  bonds  should  measure  their  term.  In  deter- 
mining the  length  of  the  efficient  life  of  a  municipal  im- 
provement, city  planning  is  indispensable.  Hence,  the  issu- 
ance of  city  bonds  calls  for  city  planning  as  a  prerequisite. 
As  illustrations  of  his  method,  he  proposes  that  bonds  for 
■parks  might  run  seventy-five  or  one  hundred  years;  for 
street  pavement,  in  the  neighborhood  of  fifteen  years;  stone 
and  concrete  bridges,  seventy-five  years,  etc. 

[io8] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

The  levying  of  an  assessment  on  property  which  has  re- 
ceived a  special  benefit  because  of  an  improvement  is  a  method 
which  is  particularly  attractive  to  American  planners,  first, 
because  it  is  based  upon  the  equitable  principle  of  putting 
the  burden  on  the  properties  that  are  directly  benefited ;  and 
second,  because  it  relieves  general  taxation.  There  are  many 
striking  examples  of  the  increase  of  value  of  private  prop- 
erty through  the  expenditure  of  the  community's  money  in 
street  widening,  and  in  the  establishment  of  parks  and 
parkways.  Kansas  City  is  one  of  the  best  illustrations  of 
parks. 

The  justice  of  the  special  assessment  method  appealed  so 
strongly  to  Nelson  P.  Lewis,  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Board 
of  Estimate  and  Apportionment,  New  York  City,  that  he 
has  presented  the  subject  in  a  monograph  entitled,  "Paying 
the  Bills  for  City  Planning,"  and  as  a  result  of  his  state- 
ment the  National  Conference  on  City  Planning  in  19 12 
adopted  a  resolution  embodying  the  principles  which  he 
advocated,  the  most  important  of  which  is  "that  where 
there  is  local  benefit,  there  should  always  be  local  assess- 
ment on  the  land  benefited." 

Desirable  results  are  claimed  for  the  method  of  financing 
improvements  long  practiced  in  some  European  countries, 
and  known  in  the  United  States  as  excess  or  incidental  con- 
demnation. By  constitutional  amendment  in  Massachusetts, 
New  York  and  Wisconsin,  municipalities  may  acquire  by 
purchase  or  condemnation,  more  land  than  is  actually  needed 
for  the  construction  of  the  improvement,  with  the  right  of 
resale  after  the  completion  of  the  improvement.  Its  value 
as  a  financial  expedient  for  city  planning  has  not  yet  been 
fully  decided  in  the  United  States.  The  principle  is  in 
some  respects  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  individual  rights,  and 
its  headway  cannot  be  expected  to  be  rapid.  There  is  also, 
of  course,  a  chance  of  loss.     The  city  becomes  to  some  ex- 

[109] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


tent  a  speculator  in  land.  Values  may  not  rise  as  much  as 
estimated,  and  the  increase  may  be  offset  by  carrying  charges. 
It  should  be  added,  however,  that  the  power  of  excess 
condemnation  has  great  value  as  a  means  of  control  in 
connection  with  the  environment  of  an  important  public 
improvement.  Through  the  purchase  and  resale  the  munici- 
pality has  an  opportunity  to  place  effective  restrictions  upon 
the  use  of  the  private  property  adjacent  to  the  improve- 
ments carried  out  by  the  public. 

The  financial  methods  proposed  for  getting  more  for  the 
community's  outlay  and  for  making  the  community's  money 
go  farther  presupposes  a  city  plan.  Such  a  plan  will  divide 
the  city  by  differentiated  building  regulations,  and  thus 
increase  the  desirability  of  each  district  or  zone  for  its  pur- 
poses, and  thus  also  increase  municipal  revenue.  A  plan  for 
the  extension  of  thoroughfares  and  for  rapid  transit  lines 
for  large  cities  will  tend  to  stabilize  real  estate  values, 
and  make  special  assessment  for  benefit  derived  more  equita- 
ble to  the  property  owner,  and  more  remunerative  to  the 
community.  The  chief  financial  return  of  city  planning, 
however,  is  in  the  prevention  of  error  of  physical  develop- 
ment and  the  consequent  waste  of  community  money. 

A  brief  list  of  references  of  special  value  is  as  follows: 
Annual  Reports  on  the  Comparative  Financial  Statistics 
of  Cities  and  Towns,  by  Charles  F.  Gettemy,  Boston,  1906- 
12;  R.  M.  Kurd's  "Principles  of  City  Land  Values,"  New 
York,  1905;  N.  P.  Lewis'  paper  on  "Paying  the  Bills  for 
City  Planning,"  Proceedings  of  the  Fourth  National  Con- 
ference on  City  Planning,  1912;  the  paper  by  Lawson 
Purdy  on  "Condemnation,  Assessments  and  Taxation  in 
Relation  to  City  Planning,"  Proceedings  of  Third  National 
Conference  on  City  Planning,  191  t;  and  the  volume  on 
"Carrying  Out  the  City  Plan,"  by  Flavel  Shurtleff  and  F.  L. 
Olmsted,  19 14. 

[no] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 


Chapter  8 

Professional  Training  and  Experience 

Students  of  city  planning  may  become  qualified  for  pro- 
fessional work  in  the  following  ways: 

1.  There  is  some  opportunity  for  training  and  experi- 
ence in  the  offices  of  competent  practitioners. 

2.  Facilities  afforded  for  special  study  in  libraries  are  a 
collection  of  plans  and  other  professional  materials ;  also, 
exhibitions,  and  conferences,  eS'pecially  the  annual  sessions 
of  the  National  Conference  on  City  Planning. 

3.  From  time  to  time,  city  planning  tours  and  trips 
for  observation  of  city  planning  works  have  been  arranged, 
notably  in  Europe.  As  illustrations,  mention  may  be  made 
of  the  tour  conducted  by  the  National  Housing  Reform  and 
Town  Planning  Council  (of  England)  in  connection  with 
the  International  Housing  Congress  at  Vienna  in  1910;  the 
Garden  City  and  Town  Planning  Association  Easter  tour 
to  Essen,  Cologne,  Diisseldorf,  Frankfort,  Mannheim,  Hei- 
delberg, Ulm,  Nuremberg,  Dresden,  etc.,  in  April,  191 1; 
the  Continental  Town  Planning  visit  to  Nancy,  Frankfort, 
Geneva  and  Berne  under  the  auspices  of  the  National  Hous- 
ing and  Town  Planning  Council  in  191 2;  the  Town  Plan- 
ning Lecture  tour  organized  by  Mr.  Charles  C.  Reade 
to  principal  towns  of  Australasia  in  1914;  and  the  First 
Congress  and  Tour  of  the  International  Association  of 
Garden  Cities  in  July,  191 4,  which  included  parties  from 
America,  Austria,  Canada,  France,  Germany,  Great  Britain, 
Italy,  Poland,  Russia  and  Spain. 

4.  The  main  reliance,  however,  for  education  and  train- 

[III] 


NEIV  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


ing  in  preparation  for  city  planning  work  must  be  placed 
upon  the  courses  of  study  now  offered  in  universities,  col- 
leges, and  technical  schools.  Nine  educational  institutions 
in  the  United  States  are  now  giving  instruction  in  city 
planning.  They  are  as  follows:  the  University  of  Cali- 
fornia, Division  of  Landscape  Architecture,  offering  courses 
in  Modern  Civic  Art  and  City  and  Town  Planning;  the 
University  of  Illinois,  Division  of  Landscape  Gardening, 
offering  courses  in  Town  Improvement,  Civic  Design,  Land- 
scape and  Planting  Design,  and  Office  Practice;  the  Uni- 
versity of  Iowa,  Department  of  Civil  Engineering,  the 
Elements  of  City  Planning;  the  University  of  Michigan, 
Department  of  Landscape  Design,  offering  courses  in  Civic 
Improvement,  Parks  and  Playgrounds,  and  the  Principles 
of  City  Planning;  Pennsylvania  State  College,  Department 
of  Horticulture,  offering  courses  in  Modern  Civic  Art 
and  Landscape  Design;  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
Wharton  School  of  Economics,  Economic  Aspect  of  City 
Planning  and  Housing;  Throop  College  of  Technology,  De- 
partment of  Civil  Engineering,  offering  a  course  in  City 
Planning,  required  for  all  engineering  students;  University 
of  Wisconsin,  College  of  Mechanics  and  Engineering,  of- 
fering an  elective  course  in  City  Planning.  The  most  com- 
plete course  of  instruction  in  the  subject  is  that  provided 
by  Harvard  University  in  its  School  of  Landscape  Architec- 
ture. It  offers  a  complete  professional  course  of  three 
years,  providing  lectures  and  design  work  as  follows:  i. 
Principles  of  City  Planning.  A  comprehensive  view  of  the 
subject  of  city  planning  and  opportunity  to  develop  the 
idea  of  the  modern  city  as  an  organic  whole,  the  perfect 
efficiency  of  which  demands  attention  not  only  to  the  best 
service  of  many  separate  functions,  but  also  to  the  perfect 
inter-relation  of  its  component  parts.  2.  Practice  in  Design. 
Study  of  actual  work  and  of  the  solution  by  the  students 

[112] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

of  actual  problems  presented  to  them  in  definite  form. 
3.  Principles  of  Construction.  Roads,  streets  and  walks 
in  relation  to  traffic ;  street  construction ;  municipal  water 
supply  and  distribution ;  municipal  sewerage  and  disposal  of 
wastes.  4.  Planting  Design.  Problems,  lectures  and  field 
work,  dealing  with  various  aspects  of  city  planning. 

Valuable  courses  for  education  and  training  in  prepara- 
tion for  city  planning  work  are  also  offered  by  the  London 
Summer  School  of  Town  Planning.  In  the  United  States 
the  only  opportunities  corresponding  to  the  London  School 
are  the  courses  in  Housing  and  Town  Planning  offered  in 
connection  with  the  Summer  School  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania.  The  relation  of  local  commercial  and  civic 
organizations  to  city  planning  is  given  considerable  attention 
at  the  American  City  Bureau's  Summer  School  of  Com- 
munity Leadership. 

The  most  complete  outline  of  college  and  university  in- 
struction in  city  planning  is  to  be  found  in  Charles  Mulford 
Robinson's  article  in  The  City  Plan  for  April,  1916. 
Other  references  of  value  on  this  subject  are  "Civic  Design — 
Its  Study  and  Technology,"  in  the  volume  on  "Civic  Art," 
by  T.  H.  Mawson;  the  article  on  "The  Department  of 
Landscape  Architecture  in  Harvard  University"  in  Land- 
scape Architecture,  January,  191 1,  by  J.  S.  Pray;  and 
Chapters  VIII,  IX  and  XIII  in  "Cities  in  Evolution,"  by 
Patrick  Geddes. 


[113] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


Chapter  g 

New  Towns  and  New  Standards 

For  several  years  we  have  discussed  housing  and  town 
planning  primarily  from  the  viewpoint  of  its  effect  upon  the 
war.  We  were  concerned  then,  first  of  all,  with  winning 
the  war.  We  believed  then,  as  we  believe  now,  that  a 
proper  housing  policy  was  an  essential  part  of  a  war  pro- 
gram. We  came  again  to  the  statement  that  you  can't  man 
the  works  unless  you  house  the  man.  Also  that  you  can't 
keep  the  man  at  work  unless  jou  house  him  properly. 

There  was  a  recognition,  too,  of  the  effect  of  the  character- 
istic housing  and  town  planning  of  a  nation  upon  the  effi- 
ciency of  an  overseas  army  —  its  bodily  vigor,  its  intellectual 
alertness,  even  its  patriotic  enthusiasm  and  that  great  quality 
which  we  call  morale.  These  influences  are  exhibited  not 
only  by  the  house  itself,  but  by  the  entire  home  environment 
of  the  local  community  —  its  streets,  its  stores,  its  schools,  its 
parks  and  recreation  places.  Indeed  it  has  been  said  that 
the  patriotism  of  men  is  of  a  somewhat  higher  order  if  they 
come  from  cities  having  irregular  plans,  cities  that  are  pic- 
turesque, interesting  and  beautiful,  as  contrasted  with  those 
that  are  dull  gridirons,  commonplace  and  ugly. 

Today  we  have  shifted  our  emphasis  and  attention.  In 
place  of  considering  the  effect  of  housing  upon  the  war,  we 
are  beginning  to  look  around  and  ask,  what  influence  has  the 
war  had  upon  housing?  The  effect  surely  has  been  mixed. 
In  some  directions,  undoubtedly,  housing  standards  have 
been  lowered.  Many  examples  could  be  given.  We  have 
had  to  accept  as  a  part  of  war's  necessities  the  disadvantages 

[114] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

and  dangers  of  a  makeshift  housing  policy,  a  policy  which 
emphasized  the  "Take  a  Roomer"  campaign,  the  solution  of 
housing  requirements  not  by  an  addition  to  the  supply  of 
houses,  but  through  transportation.  The  result  has  been 
that  during  this  war  emergency  even  housing  reformers 
have  patriotically  closed  their  eyes.  However,  the  lasting 
eiifect  of  the  war  upon  housing,  will,  I  believe,  be  good.  At 
least  we  have  an  opportunity  to  make  it  so. 

PERMANENT  HOUSING 

The  so-called  "standards"  recommended  for  permanent 
industrial  housing  developments  by  the  Bureau  of  Industrial 
Housing  and  Transportation  are  a  notable  achievement. 
They  were  adopted  by  the  Bureau  after  months  of  open- 
minded  and  vigorous  discussion  by  a  representative  group  of 
men.  This  body  included  architects,  engineers,  landscape 
architects,  town  planners,  contractors,  physicians,  housing 
experts,  social  workers,  realtors  and  others. 

A  number  of  essential  ideas  should  be  noted  in  connection 
with  these  housing  standards  of  the  Federal  Government. 
In  the  first  place,  they  are  standards  for  permanent  con- 
struction. As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  government  standards 
for  temporary  construction  are  in  many  ways  equally  worthy 
of  review  and  praise.  But  they  are  not  the  subject  of  this 
discussion. 

A  second  essential  idea  is  that,  while  these  standards  were 
adopted  with  a  firm  determination  that  they  should  control, 
their  application  was  to  be  discriminating.  Common  sense 
was  to  have  its  proper  place;  also  local  custom.  Therefore 
the  Housing  Bureau  recommended  in  its  very  first  para- 
graph that  these  standards  were  not  intended  as  inflexible 
requirements,  but  added  that  any  plans  which  failed  to 
conform  to  the  standards  were  not  likely  to  be  accepted 
unless  supported  by  very  strong  reasons. 

[115] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 

The  standards  as  put  forth  by  the  Government  are  com- 
prehensive. The  nine  types  of  houses  included  cover  virtu- 
ally the  whole  field.     They  are  as  follows: 

1.  Single  family  house. 

2.  Two  family  house. 

3.  Single  family  house  with  room  for  lodgers  or  boarders. 

4.  Lodging  house  for  men. 

5.  Hotel  for  men. 

6.  Lodging  house  for  women. 

7.  Hotel  for  women. 

8.  Tenement  house. 

9.  Boarding  house. 

MOST  IMPORTANT  STANDARDS 

Attention  can  be  most  profitably  directed  to  three  out- 
standing proposals,  each  absolutely  fundamental  to  good 
housing,  and  each  unfortunately  more  or  less  in  conflict  with 
the  common  practice  of  our  time. 

These  three  outstanding  general  proposals  are: 

First — ^That  row  or  group  houses  are  not  normally  to 

be  more  than  two  rooms  deep. 
Second — That  side  yard  space  between  adjacent  build- 
ings is  to  be  at  least  16  feet  and  preferably  20  feet. 

Third — That  tenement  and  apartment  houses  are  con- 
sidered  generally   undesirable,    and   will   be  accepted 
only  in  cities  where,  because  of  high  land  values,  it 
is  clearly  demonstrated   that  single   and   two-family 
houses    cannot    be   economically    provided    or    where 
there  is  insistent  demand  for  this  type  of  multiple 
housing. 
If  nothing  else  were  accomplished  by  the  formulation  of 
government  standards,  the  cause  of  good  housing  would  owe 
an  unending  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  agency  that  set  down 

[116] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  ULLAGES 

in  determined  form  the  Government's  belief  in  these  three 
fundamental  proposals. 

But  of  course  there  are  many  other  points  that  are  worthy 
of  praise  and  of  wider  adoption.  They  run  all  through  the 
list  of  subjects  for  the  various  types  of  buildings  with  which 
those  concerned  about  housing  are  familiar  —  the  materials 
of  exterior  walls,  the  size  of  windows,  the  height  of  build- 
ings, fire  protection,  the  size  and  number  of  rooms,  the  all- 
important  plumbing,  the  character  of  fences,  allotment  gar- 
dens, free  standing  beds,  the  need  for  a  clothes  closet  in 
every  bedroom,  etc.  Two  groups  of  six  topics  each  appear 
to  be  of  greatest  importance  and  significance.  These  deal 
mainly  with  the  single  family  house.  The  first  group  re- 
lates primarily  to  the  character  of  the  house  itself,  the  second 
to  the  town  planning  features  that  do  so  much  to  make  or 
mar  the  house  as  a  satisfactory  home. 

THE  HOUSE  ITSELF 

In  the  group  determining  the  character  of  the  house  itself, 
1  should  name  as  most  important  the  following  standards : 

1.  That  row  or  group  houses  are  not  to  be  more  than 

two  rooms  deep. 

2.  That  cross  ventilation  as  direct  as  possible  is  to  be 

provided  for  all  rooms. 

3.  That  no  living  quarters  are  to  be  in  basements. 

4.  That  a  minimum  clear  space  of  eight  inches  is  to  be 

provided   between   the  ceiling   and   the   roof,   with 
adequate  ventilation. 

5.  That  five-room  houses  are  to  be  preferred  for  higher 

paid  workers,  and  four-room  houses  for  lower  paid 
workers. 

6.  That  evGry  house  is  to  have  one  large  bedroom  and  a 

parlor  or  living  room  from  lOx  12  feet  to  12  x  14 
feet  in  size. 

[117] 


ISK^r  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


TOWN  PLANNING 

In  the  town  planning  features  the  regulations  of  most  far- 
reaching  effect  are: 

1.  That  side  yard  space  between  adjacent  buildings  is  to 
be  preferably  20  feet,  with  a  minimum  of  16  feet. 

2.  That  the  group  house  should  be  used  wherever  lot 
sizes  or  land  values  make  it  difficult  or  impossible  to  provide 
adequate  side  yard  space. 

3.  That  rear  yard  depth  is  to  be  not  less  than  the  height 
of  building,  nor  in  any  case  less  than  20  feet,  and  the  mini- 
mum distance  between  the  backs  of  houses  at  least  50  feet. 

4.  That  front  yards  or  setbacks  are  desirable  where  practi- 
cable, and  the  minimum  distance  from  the  front  of  the  house 
to  the  front  of  the  opposite  house  is  to  be  50  feet. 

5.  That  private  alleys  will  not  be  accepted,  but  that 
access  to  the  rear  of  houses  may  be  made  through  minor 
public  streets,  such  streets  to  be  not  less  than  12  feet  wide, 
and  to  be  properly  paved,  curbed,  drained,  and  lighted. 

6.  That  the  tenement  and  apartment  house  is  to  be  con- 
sidered an  undesirable  house  type,  and  accepted  only  in 
places  where  other  types  are  not  practicable. 

ARE  STANDARDS  NECESSARY? 

It  is  natural  to  inquire  here,  should  self-imposed  standards 
be  adopted  to  control  government  housing  for  war  needs? 
Why  should  not  the  aim  be  the  largest  possible  amount  of 
housing  at  the  least  possible  cost  ?  I  believe  there  are  two 
substantial  reasons.  The  first  is  that  this  method  would 
defeat  its  own  primary  purpose.  Not  the  largest  amount  of 
any  kind  of  housing,  but  the  largest  amount  of  satisfactory 
housing,  is  essential.  Contentment  and  efficiency  are  de- 
pendent upon  satisfactory  housing,  and  without  contentment 
and  efficiency  the  war  needs  of  labor  would  not  be  well 
served. 

[118] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 


Hampstead  Way,   Hampstead  Garden 

Suburb,  England 

The  ideals  of  neiu  tozvns  and  neic  housing  standards  have 

to  some  extent  already  been  realized  in  the  typical 

English  garden  cities  and  suburbs 

The  second  reason  is  that  even  in  the  most  engrossing 
da3S  of  war,  when  many  things  had  to  be  done  which  we 
might  have  wished  otherwise,  an  effort  was  made  to  hold 
to  the  human  requirements  of  the  workman  and  his  family. 
There  are  laws  of  human  well-being  —  scientific  laws  —  and 
we  now  know  better  tlian  we  ever  knew  before  that  in  the 
long  run  it  pays  to  follow  them.  In  this  respect  housing  is 
not  peculiar.  There  are  standards  in  food,  in  clothing,  in 
ships,  in  munitions,  in  factory  buildings,  in  motor  vehicles, 
in  airplanes,  and  in  all  the  vast  complex  material  of  the 
modern  world. 

But  if  we  agree  that  there  should  be  housing  standards, 
by  what  method  should  they  be  fixed?  Should  they  be  de- 
termined by  the  wages  that  workmen  receive  and  rent  that 
workmen  can  afford  to  pay,  or  by  an  economic  rent  on  land, 

[119] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


1  ■11—11  MauinKHJ-wiMMi^"!  " 


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building  and  utilities  —  a  return,  say,  of  lo  per  cent  gross 
or  5  per  cent  net  on  the  invested  capital  —  or  by  the  accepted 
but  constantly  changing  minimum  requirements  of  safety, 
health,  convenience  and  comfort?  Or  should  they  be  de- 
termined by  all  these  requirements  considered  together?  It 
is  my  opinion  that  if  these  government  standards  have  one 
merit  more  than  another,  it  is  their  endeavor  to  harmonize 
so  far  as  possible  all  these  various  requirements. 

Housing  is  on  the  new  map  of  the  w^orld.  Its  place  and 
boundaries  are  changed  permanently.  Public  opinion  has 
shifted,  and  in  the  right  direction.  No  statesman  who  aspires 
to  power  and  honor  in  the  new  regime  can  fail  to  include 
it  in  his  reconstruction  or  readjustment  program.     The  men 


[i2o] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

in  the  service  expect  to  find  on  their  return  a  new  and  better 
type  of  workman's  home. 

Unless  all  signs  fail,  housing  reform  is  to  be  part  of  our 
new  standards  of  action.  Like  new  standards  of  action  in 
other  fields,  housing  is  to  be  changed  through  three  influences 
that  are  spreading  far  and  wide.  They  are  cooperation,  a 
new  scale  of  money  expenditures,  and  a  raising  of  democratic 
ideals.  The  years  of  the  war  have  given  innumerable  illus- 
trations of  what  cooperation  can  do.  We  are  no  longer 
daunted  by  cost,  if  the  thing  for  which  the  money  is  to  be 
spent  is  worth  it. 

Great  Britain  has  gone  further  than  the  United  States  in 
its  housing  and  town  planning  program  for  the  reconstruc- 
tion period.  In  outline  its  formula  for  new  towns  after  the 
war  may  be  stated  as  follows: 

"It  is  now  possible  to  give  the  bare  elements  of  the  garden 
city  idea  in  a  brief  formula  of  general  applicability  —  a  scien- 
tific constructive  prescription  which,  if  this  reasoning  is 
sound,  ought  to  influence  the  development  of  all  industrial 
towns,  new  and  old : 

"A  town  should  be  of  a  population  large  enough  to  allow 
of  efficient  industrial  organization  and  full  social  activity; 
but  no  larger.  The  urban  area  should  be  limited,  to  a  size 
requisite  to  house  this  population  well,  and  should  be  sur- 
rounded by  a  zone  of  open  land  large  enough  to  possess  a 
distinctively  rural  and  agricultural  character. 

"The  whole  of  the  land,  including  the  urban  area  and  the 
rural  zone,  should  be  owned  and  administered  in  the  interest 
of  the  local  community." 

The  reduction  of  this  formula  to  figures  and  dimensions 
requires  a  longer  analysis  than  is  possible  here.  There  is 
little  doubt  that  a  population  of  30,000  would  be  ample  for 
industrial  purposes  in  almost  any  district  of  Great  Britain 
or  Ireland ;  on  the  present  average  scale  of  manufacture  it 

[121] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 

would  permit  of  a  very  considerable  diversity  of  industry 
within  the  town.  But  judging  by  the  example  of  existing 
country  towns,  there  are  some  social  advantages  to  be  gained 
by  having  a  population  as  large  as  50,000.  To  accommodate 
such  a  population  well,  according  to  modern  town  planning 
standards,  would  require  an  urban  area  of  about  2,000  acres 
—  with  an  average  density  of  25  persons  to  the  acre.  A 
town  of  this  size  and  roughly  round  in  shape,  would  have  a 
radius  of  less  than  a  mile,  which  would  enable  all  its  in- 
dustrial workers  to  be  within  walking  distance  of  their  work 
and  of  the  open  country,  and  an  extensive  rural  community  to 
have  easy  access  to  the  markets  and  social  attractions  of  the 
town. 

The  requirements  of  the  several  interests  studied  in  the 
garden  city  formula  are  thus  shown  to  be  consistent  one 
with  another.  Recognizing  that  there  are  variations  of 
taste  in  urban  allurements,  and  that  the  liking  for  compara- 
tive simplicity  is  a  legitimate  variation,  it  is  convenient  to 
suggest  30,000  as  a  minimum  and  50,000  as  a  maximum 
population.  Above  50,000  the  need  of  internal  transit  would 
arise,  without  substantial  compensations. 

A  plank  in  the  domestic  part  of  the  peace  program  is  a 
recognition  that  city  conditions  should  be  made  more  fit  for 
democracy,  that  higher  standards  of  living  should  prevail. 
The  following  is  the  gist  of  many  statements  appearing  in 
the  American  press  referring  to  these  new  standards. 

We  are  convinced  that  in  the  new  order  American  essen- 
tials In  politics  will  be  preserved,  but  that  will  not  satisfy 
the  new  demands.  We  have  made  great  demands  upon 
citizens.  As  a  nation  can  we  not  return  anything  to  them? 
We  can  give  them  the  things  which  make  life  worth  while 
living  —  decent  homes,  cities  clear  of  slums,  children  well 
fed,  that  they  may  be  citizens  well  ordered,  with  fit  bodies 
and  active  minds;  cities  which  see  the  sunlight  and  do  not 

[122] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

live  under  a  canopy  of  smoke.  We  can  add  to  the  decoration 
and  adornment  of  life,  to  its  amusements.  We  can  help  to 
better  physical  and  esthetic  conditions.  We  can  raise  the 
whole  standard  of  life  physically,  mentally,  and  spiritually. 
We  can  give  life  more  color  and  more  interest.  We  can 
have  more  libraries  and  a  wider  distribution  of  music  and 
art.     We  can  have  parks  and  forest  preserves. 

These  are  the  things  which  confront  the  United  States. 
There  is  a  new  order.  It  is  the  new  order  of  the  average 
man.  It  must  suit  his  needs.  It  is  not  for  the  United  States 
a  new  political  order.  We  know  that  we  shall  retain  our 
political  structure.  But  it  is  a  new  order  for  real  life  in  the 
United  States.  It  must  be  more  worth  while  to  live  here 
for  the  people  who  do  live  here. 

A  considerable  number  of  publications  have  appeared  re- 
cently, dealing  with  the  new  housing  standards  used  during 
'the  war,  and  the  proposals  for  the  construction  of  new 
villages  and  towns  after  the  declaration  of  peace.  Among 
these,  special  mention  should  be  made  of  Standards  Recom- 
mended for  Permanent  Industrial  Housing  Developments, 
United  States  Department  of  Labor;  The  Housing  Problem 
in  War  and  in  Peace,  prepared  by  various  authors  for  the 
Journal  of  the  American  Institute  of  Architects;  the  Report 
of  the  Committee  Appointed  by  the  English  Local  Govern- 
ment Board  to  Consider  Questions  of  Building  Construction 
and  Methods  of  Securing  Economy  and  Dispatch ;  New 
Towns  After  the  War,  An  Argument  for  Garden  Cities, 
by  New  Townsmen ;  The  Meaning  of  Reconstruction,  by 
Demos;  Village  Life  After  the  War — Being  Special  Reports 
of  Conference  on  the  Development  of  Rural  Life;  An  Im- 
perial Obligation,  by  Thomas  H.  Mawson ;  and  Afforestation 
and  the  Partially  Disabled,  by  the  same  author.  A  Selected 
Bibliography  of  Industrial  Housing  in  America  and  Great 
Britain  During  and  After  the  War  has  been  issued  by  the 
U.  S.  Department  of  Labor. 

[123] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


Chapter  10 

Public  Opinion  and  City  Planning 

Progress 

To  stimulate  interest  and  make  clear  the  need  of  city 
planning  is  an  important  part  of  the  task  of  establishing  new 
ideals  and  new  standards.  It  is  a  publicity  job,  this  work  of 
making  intelligible  to  the  public  generally  what  city  planning 
really  means.  We  must  aim  to  get  all  who  are  interested  in 
their  community  to  see  the  planning  of  the  city  in  its  simple, 
practicable  and  financially  advantageous  outlines. 

The  making  of  public  opinion  for  city  planning  is  like 
making  public  opinion  for  pretty  much  anything  else.  It  is 
done  through  the  newspapers,  by  public  exhibitions  of 
plans,  by  moving  pictures,  if  they  can  be  made  available,  by 
the  printing  of  reports,  pamphlets  and  popular  leaflets,  by 
public  meetings,  illustrated  lectures,  the  use  of  the  stereo- 
motograph  and  attractoscope,  and  free  and  wide  discussion. 
One  important  thing  to  discuss  is  the  financial  results  of  city 
plans — that  in  a  big  sense,  city  planning  pays.  That  might 
be  the  first  appeal.  The  second  appeal  is  almost  opposite.  It 
is  the  appeal  to  sentiment,  to  idealism,  to  loyalty  to  one's  own 
community.  It  is  surprising  how  quickly  business  organiza- 
tions, such  as  Chambers  of  Commerce  and  Boards  of  Trade, 
respond  on  the  ground  that  city  planning  promotes  the  city's 
welfare.  The  third  appeal  is  to  the  imagination.  It  is  the 
need  of  actual  plans.  It  is  necessary  to  visualize  as  graphically 
and  attractively  as  possible  various  proposals  for  improve- 
ment, especially  as  related  in  comprehensive  schemes.  The 
final  appeal  is  that  of  an  object  lesson,  something  actually 

[124] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

done,  even  though  it  is  but  a  small  part  of  the  general  plan. 
This  involves  the  execution  of  a  park,  a  playground,  a  garden 
suburb,  a  viaduct,  a  better  type  of  bridge,  a  union  station,  a 
civic  center — some  feature,  but  with  reference  to  the  whole 
plan.  Such  an  object  lesson  will  often  convince  the  most 
skeptical,  even  those  whom  the  other  appeals  do  not  reach. 

It  Is  sometimes  said  that  city  planning  schemes  are  not 
carried  out.  To  some  extent  this  statement  is  true.  The 
execution  of  comprehensive  city  plans  requires  time — often  a 
generation  ;  also  money — large  sums ;  also  authority — some- 
times a  change  in  the  state  laws  or  even  in  the  state  constitu- 
tion ;  also  the  formation  of  favorable  public  opinion.  Horace 
Bushnell,  in  his  agitation  for  the  first  city  public  park  in  the 
United  States,  said:  "Many  things  must  be  carefully  pre- 
pared, as  carefully  watched,  and  persistently  pushed,  by  the 
man  who  will  get  any  city  public  into  and  through  a  great 
public  improvement.  Wearied,  and  worried,  and  hindered, 
he  must  never  sleep,  never  be  beaten,  never  desist,  and  if,  by 
a  whole  five  years  of  toil,  he  gets  his  work  on  far  enough  to 
become  an  interest  in  itself,  and  take  care  of  itself,  he  does 
well,  and  there  may  rest." 

The  answers  received  from  a  questionnaire  sent  out  re- 
cently to  more  than  a  score  of  cities,  uniformly  emphasizes  the 
same  conclusions  with  regard  to  the  success  or  failure  of  city 
planning  proposals.  Careful  examination  of  the  responses 
shows  that  the  degree  of  success  is  dependent  on  a  regard  for 
and  adherence  to  certain  principles.  The  solution  of  the 
whole  problem  seems  to  lie  in  a  diplomatic,  carefully  planned, 
and  if  need  be,  a  long  extended  campaign  of  education  aimed 
to  reach  not  only  the  well-informed  and  prominent  elements 
of  the  community,  but  also  the  laboring  classes  and  the  public 
at  large.  In  other  words,  the  success  of  the  commissions,  from 
replies  which  were  received,  may  be  graded  by  the  progress 
of  such  campaigns  of  education  in  their  towns  and  cities. 

[125] 


NFJV  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


To  one  who  is  familiar  with  the  natural  and  formidable 
obstacles  to  the  execution  of  comprehensive  city  planning 
projects  and  the  progress  that  has  been  made  already,  the 
astonishing  thing  is  that  so  much  has  been  done,  especially  in 
the  smaller  places.  In  some  cases,  as  for  example.  Glen  Ridge, 
N.  J.,  and  Walpole,  Mass.,  virtually  all  the  proposals  have 
been  carried  out,  or  are  definitely  authorized  for  execution. 
In  other  cases — the  city  of  Reading,  Pennsylvania,  is  a  good 
illustration — even  though  the  city  plan  commissions  were 
not  able  at  the  time  to  get  the  approval  of  their  recommenda- 
tions, the  plans  have  been  partially  executed  by  the  city 
council  or  other  public  authority.  The  words  of  Daniel  H. 
Burnham  have  often  proved  true:  "A  logical  diagram,  once 
recorded,  will  never  die,  but  long  after  we  are  gone  will  be 
a  living  thing,  asserting  itself  with  ever  growing  insistencj'." 
Furthermore,  the  city  planning  movement,  it  should  be  re- 
called, is  still  in  its  initial  stages.  Its  merits  are  not  yet 
clearly  understood  by  the  general  public,  and  very  little 
money  is  available  for  the  making  of  careful  plans,  based 
upon  reliable  surveys,  and  the  publicity  necessary  "to  sell" 
those  plans  to  the  people  for  whom  they  were  prepared. 

With  the  possible  exception  of  Chicago,  no  town  or  city  in 
the  United  States  has  j'et  taken  city  planning  seriously. 
Chicago's  methods  have  been  more  logical,  more  persistent, 
and  more  systematic  than  those  of  any  other  city.  The  whole 
story  is  convincingly  presented  in  Walter  D.  Moody's  re- 
cently issued  book  entitled  "What  of  the  City?"  by  A.  C. 
McClurg  &  Company,  with  the  subtitle,  "America's  Greatest 
Issue — City  Planning,  What  it  Is,  and  How  to  Go  About  it 
to  Achieve  Success."  Some  of  the  main  facts  to  record  in  the 
program  to  "put  across"  Chicago's  City  Plan  are  the  fol- 
lowing: 

I.  The  printing  of  the  report  on  "The  Plan  of  Chicago" 
at  a  cost  of  $85,000.  This  was  in  the  form  of  a  beautiful 
octavo  volume,  the  very  finest  example  of  printers'  crafts- 

[126] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

manshi'p.  It  contained  164  pages,  and  134  drawings,  charts 
and  pictures,  including  15  full-page,  six-color  drawings 
painted  by  the  famous  artist,  Jules  Guerin. 

2.  The  publication  of  a  booklet  entitled  "Chicago's  Great- 
est Issue — An  Official  Plan."  The  basis  of  this  publication 
was  the  de  luxe  Chicago  Plan  book,  issued  by  the  Commercial 
Club.  Many  of  the  drawings  of  the  parent  book  were  adapted 
to  the  smaller  one.  Its  93  pages,  carrying  the  328  names  of 
the  members  of  the  Commission,  representing  every  walk  of 
life  in  the  city,  told  the  story  of  the  Plan  of  Chicago  to  all  the 
people  in  simple,  easily  comprehended,  everyday  language; 
165,000  copies  were  issued*  and  distributed  at  a  cost  of 
$18,000.  These  were  delivered  to  every  property  owner  of 
the  city,  and  to  persons  paying  a  rental  of  $25  per  month  and 
over.  "Chicago's  Greatest  Issue"  was  sent,  on  request,  all 
over  the  civilized  world. 

3.  A  notable  pamphlet  was  printed  and  issued,  entitled 
"Fifty  Million  Dollars  for  Nothing."  It  showed  the  people 
of  Chicago  how  they  could  obtain  1,300  acres  of  lake  front 
parks,  playgrounds  and  watercourses  by  utilizing  the  waste 
material  of  the  city.  It  pointed  out  that  by  so  doing,  the  city 
could  secure  in  twelve  years,  park  lands  ready  for  develop- 
ment, and  worth  fifty  million  dollars,  at  no  cost  whatever  to 
the  tax-payers. 

4.  There  were  many  other  special  pamphlets  and  reports, 
e-  but,  to  cap  all,  the  Commission  issued  a  publication  entitled 

"Chicago's  World-wide  Influence  in  City  Planning."  It 
was  an  effort  to  "keep  the  home  fires  burning"  with  com- 
munity confidence  and  devotion  to  its  own  plan  as  it  was  re- 
garded by  the  rest  of  the  world.  This  was  a  compilation  of 
comments  and  requests  for  Chicago  Plan  literature  from  hun- 
dreds of  experts,  civic  workers,  municipal  authorities, 
libraries,  schools  and  public-spirited  citizens,  received  by  the 
Commission  from  all  over  the  world. 

[127] 


NEIV  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


5.  Following  the  signing  of  the  armistice  in  the  great  war, 
and  the  announcement  of  the  reconstruction  platform  of  the 
Chicago  Plan  Commission,  to  which  the  Chicago  newspapers 
devoted  twelve  columns,  an  appeal  was  made  to  the  clergy 
of  the  city  to  preach  from  their  pulpits  upon  the  humanitarian 
benefits  of  the  Plan  of  Chicago.  The  Commission's  "Seed 
Thoughts  for  Sermons"  pointed  out  the  close  harmony  be- 
tween the  social  work  in  the  churches  and  the  benefits  in  the 
plan.  This  document,  together  with  a  resolution,  and  the 
reconstruction  platform,  was  sent  to  every  clergyman  in 
Chicago. 

6.  As  a  direct  result  of  the  admonition,  "Establish  the 
Plan  of  Chicago  with  the  People,"  a  school  text-book  was 
printed,  entitled  "Wacker's  Manual  of  the  Plan  of  Chicago." 
This  came  as  an  inspiration.  The  Plan  of  Chicago  text- 
book was  adopted  by  the  Chicago  Board  of  Education  in 
191 2.  The  first  issue  was  15,000  copies.  It  was  used  as  a 
part  of  the  curriculum  of  the  eighth  grade  courses.  The 
school  authorities  followed  the  wish  of  the  Plan  Executive, 
whose  conviction  it  was  that  a  larger  number  of  students 
could  thus  be  reached.  It  was  believed,  too,  that  there  was 
value  in  an  appeal  to  the  children  at  their  most  impressionable 
age.  More  than  50,000  copies  of  Wacker's  Manual  have 
been  published  for  the  current  needs  of  the  school. 

7.  After  the  school  book  came  the  Lecture  Bureau.  A 
popular  lecture,  showing  more  than  200  pictures  of  twenty- 
four  countries  of  the  world,  was  most  carefully  prepared,  and 
critics  say  it  compares  favorably  with  the  popular  lectures  of 
the  day  delivered  by  professional  speakers.  The  Board  of 
Education  placed  the  assembly  halls  of  the  schools  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Plan  officials  without  price.  How  to  attract  the 
people  to  the  Plan  of  Chicago  lectures  was  the  task.  The 
difficulties,  however,  were  finally  overcome.  As  many  as 
150,000  circular  announcements  of  the  lectures  were  mailed 

[128J 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

to  citizens  in  a  single  season.  Nearly  a  hundred  school  lec- 
tures were  delivered  in  one  year.  The  schools  were  selected 
in  order,  and  to  equitably  cover  the  city.  This  method  was 
continued  from  year  to  year,  and  during  the  first  seven  years 
of  the  Commission,  nearly  four  hundred  lectures  were  de- 
livered ;  175,000  people  have  been  directly  reached  with  the 
Plan  message;  that  is,  one  in  every  fourteen  residents  of 
Chicago. 

8.  One  of  the  chief  aids  to  the  effective  publicity  for  the 
Plan  of  Chicago  was  a  motion  picture  campaign.  This  con- 
sisted of  a  two-reel  feature  entitled  "A  Tale  of  One  City." 
It  contrasted  the  Plan  proposals  with  existing  conditions,  and 
was  interspersed  with  scenes  of  human  interest  and  attraction 
about  Chicago.  The  reels  were  shown  in  more  than  sixty 
Chicago  theatres  to  an  estimated  audience  of  more  than  150,- 
000  people.  The  opening  was  at  the  Majestic  Theatre  to  an 
audience  which  packed  the  house  to  capacity,  and  was  as 
representative  as  a  Grand  Opera  occasion. 

9.  The  most  valuable  medium  of  all  for  publicity  for  the 
Plan  of  Chicago  has  been  the  newspapers.  Publishers,  editors, 
reporters,  feature  writers  and  cartoonists  have  cooperated  in- 
telligently, heartily  and  generously  to  carry  to  the  people  of 
the  city  the  great  ideas  and  the  far-reaching  benefits  contained 
in  Chicago's  Plan.  One  of  the  papers  prints  daily  at  the  top 
of  its  editorial  column  its  platform,  which  contains  a  per- 
sistent endorsement  of  the  Chicago  Plan,  and  an  appeal  for 
its  support.  As  Wendell  Phillipps  has  well  said:  "The 
newspaper  is  parent,  school,  college,  pulpit,  theatre,  example, 
counselor,  all  in  one.  Every  drop  of  our  blood  is  colored  by 
it.  Let  me  make  the  newspapers  and  I  care  not  v/ho  makes 
the  religion  and  the  laws." 

This  is  not  by  any  means  the  whole  story  of  Chicago's  pub- 
licity, but  here  are  given  the  nine  main  points.  Chicago's 
publicity  campaign  on  its  great  Plan  has  been  big,  far-reach- 

[129] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


ing,  inspiring  and  effective.  Behind  the  conception  of  a  city 
plan  is  recognized  the  necessity  to  stir  the  hearts  of  men,  and 
to  inspire  in  their  minds  that  desire  for  better  city  conditions 
which  are  the  fruits  of  well-executed  city  planning.  Finally, 
it  shows  what  is  necessary  to  awaken  the  people  to  the  need 
of  city  planning,  and  how  they  can  be  moved  to  action. 

One  question  remains.  Assuming  that  a  publicity  cam- 
paign is  an  indispensable  feature  of  a  city  planning  program, 
how  can  that  campaign  be  best  organized  and  carried  out? 
Should  the  work  be  inaugurated  and  directed  by  the  city 
planner,  by  the  city  government,  by  the  city  plan  commission, 
or  by  some  other  body?  The  city  planner  is  not  a  professional 
publicity  man,  and  he  is  often^in  fact,  usually — not  a  citizen 
of  the  city  for  which  the  plan  is  prepared.  It  would  seem 
that  his  contribution  would  necessarily  be  limited  to  the 
preparation,  in  as  popular  a  form  as  possible,  of  his  plans  and 
reports,  together  with,  perhaps,  a  personal  presentation  of 
those  plans  and  reports  to  a  public  audience.  After  that,  his 
active  participation  in  a  local  educational  campaign  would  be 
of  doubtful  expediency. 

The  city  authorities,  especially  the  city  plan  commission, 
should  be  relied  upon  wherever  there  is  a  well-organized 
city  planning  agency,  to  outline,  direct  and  execute  the  edu- 
cational campaign  that  must  accompany  any  large  city  plan- 
ning program.  In  no  other  way  can  the  presentation  be  wide 
enough  nor  the  discussion  authoritative  and  far-reaching. 
The  city  planning  authorities,  however,  cannot  hope  to  be 
thoroughly  effective  unless  they  can  secure  the  active  coopera- 
tion of  the  voluntary  social,  civic  and  other  groups  of  citizens. 
The  whole  public  can  be  effectively  reached  only  by  the  as- 
sistance of  Chambers  of  Commerce,  women's  clubs,  labor 
unions,  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  churches  and  other  organizations  to 
which  the  people  of  the  city  are  accustomed  in  their  daily 
life  to  look  for  information  and  guidance. 

[130] 


CITIES.  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 


Chapter  IT 

The  Promise  of  the  Future 

Modern  town  planning  in  the  United  States  may  be  con- 
veniently limited  to  the  plans  that  have  been  prepared, 
and  the  work  that  has  been  done  for  cities  since  the  Expo- 
sition in  Chicago  in  1893.  In  fact,  a  distinct  period  is 
represented  by  the  last  quarter  of  a  century. 

The  actual  achievement  of  American  cities  in  city  build- 
ing, in  the  sense  in  which  that  term  is  used  in  Europe,  or 
in  the  laying  out  and  construction  of  garden  cities  and  garden 
suburbs,  as  the  English  town  planners  conceive  them,  is  as 
yet  relatively  slight  and  unimportant.  To  many  of  us, 
however,  the  future  appears  full  of  promise.  It  promises 
well  because  we  are  now  getting  into  direct  personal  and 
intimate  touch  with  the  practice  and  experience  of  Euro-pean 
cities.  We  are  also  learning  from  our  own  direct  observa- 
tion of  their  cities  and  from  the  message  which  their  leaders 
give  us  what  to  follow  and  what  to  avoid. 

We  realize,  however,  that  if  European  experience  is  to 
be  of  value,  we  must  know  how  to  modify  and  adapt  it 
so  that  it  will  fit  American  life  and  American  conditions. 
In  climate,  topography,  ways  of  working  and  playing,  in 
traditions  from  the  past  and  aspirations  for  the  future, — in 
many  respects,  we  are  different  from  our  European  cousins. 
This  being  true,  our  cities  should  reflect  these  differences. 

The  principal  American  contributions  to  city  planning,  as 
compared  with  European  countries,  are  the  parks  or  systems 
of   parks,   such   as  those   of   Boston   and   Kansas   City;  the 

[131] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PL/JNNINC  OF 


Elevated  Railroad,  Steel  Structure 


playgrounds,  as  in  Chicago,  Rochester,  Hartford,  and  other 
cities  throughout  the  country;  the  great  development  of 
electric,  urban  and  interurban  street  car  transportation, 
making  possible  the  separation  of  business  and  residential 
neighborhoods ;  metropolitan  planning  in  certain  fields,  as 
illustrated  by  the  work  of  the  Water,  Sewer,  and  Park 
commissions  of  the  Boston  Metropolitan  district;  the  wide 
residential  streets  with  tree  planting  which  is  common  to 
most  American  cities,  and  the  relatively  wide  residence 
lots  with   detached   or   semi-detached   houses.      These   have 

[132] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 


Elevated  Railroad,  Concrete  Masonry  Viaduct 

Compare  the  attractiveness  of  the  masonry  viaduct  luith  the 
steel  structure  (page  125) 


been  the  principal  contributions,  so  far,  of  the  United  States 
in  the  movement  for  the  better  planning  and  the  better 
building  of  cities. 

WHY  AMERICA  LAGS  BEHIND 

European  town  planners  are  constantly  asking,  and  prop- 
erly so,  why  is  housing  not  given  more  attention  by  city 
planners  in  America?  One  English  writer  said,  "In  Amer- 
ica it  is  the  fear  of  restricting  or  injuring  free  and  open 
competition  that  has  made  it  so  difficult  for  cities  to  exercise 
proper  and  efficient  control  over  their  development.  The 
tendency  therefore  has  been  to  promote  those  forms  of  civic 
improvement  which  can  be  carried  out  without  interfering 
with  vested  interests.  To  impose  severe  sanitary  restric- 
tions, to  limit  the  height  and  density  of  dwellings,  or  to 
prevent  the  destruction  of  amenities  on  privately  owned 
land,  may  all  help  to  reduce  the  profits  of  the  speculator — 

[133] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 

hence  if  he  has  any  influence  over  the  local  governing  bodies 
he  will  secure  that  nothing  but  what  is  absolutely  necessary 
and  legal  shall  be  done  in  these  directions.  But  to  pur- 
chase large  public  parks  and  to  develop  civic  centres  adds  to 
the  value  of  the  privately  owned  land  and  buildings  in  the 
city.  Insanitary  homes  are  more  bearable  and  good  class 
residences  will  produce  higher  rents  when  they  are  adja- 
cent to  public  open  spaces." 

The  following  are  some  of  the  reasons  why  housing  has 
not    been    given    more    attention    by    city    planners    in    the 
United   States:     (i)    Until   recent  years,  aside   from   great 
cities  and  other  exceptional  development,   the  characteristic 
houses  in  American  cities  have  been  relatively  good,  so  far 
as  city  planning  goes.     The  lots  have  been  usually  40  feet 
to  50  feet  wide,  and  lOO  feet  or  more  deep,  with  not  more 
than  eight  or  ten  houses  to  the  acre.      (2)  The  rights  and 
limitations  of  municipalities  have  been  such   that  again,  so 
far  as  planning  goes,   location,   width,   etc.,   of  streets,   the 
width  and  depth  of  lots,  and  character  of  houses  have  usually 
been    determined    before    the    outlying    sections    have    been 
included  within  the  city  boundaries.      (3)    Public  opinion 
generally  was  not  and  usually   is   not  yet  favorable  to  the 
public  regulation  and   control  of  the  layout  and  character 
of  residential  neighborhoods.      It  is  indeed  very  difficult  to 
make  an  advance  even   in  sanitary   requirements,   reduction 
of  fire  hazard,  etc. — administrative  requirements  which,  in 
some  respects,  have  claims  in  advance  of  broad  city  plan- 
ning.     There   is   a   widespread    feeling    that    public   health 
matters  of  this  sort  should  have  first  attention.     The  dif- 
ficulty of  doing  these  things  is  greatly   increased   by  what 
is  known  as  the  rights   of   individual   property  and   by  the 
strength  of  vested  interests.     An  eminent  English  town  plan- 
ning authority   pointed   out   several   years   ago   that   Amer- 
ican  cities  are  very   backward   in   matters  of   public   health 

[134] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

— being  probably  20  or  30  years  behind  England  in  public 
health  legislation  and  administration.  (4)  On  account  of 
the  federal  constitution,  which  provides  that  private  prop- 
erty cannot  be  taken  except  for  a  public  use,  and  with 
due  process  of  law  and  just  compensation,  it  is  very  difficult 
and  very  costly  to  regulate  or  control  the  layout  and  char- 
acter of  residential  neighborhoods.  In  many  cases,  the 
state  constitutions  contain  the  same  provision.  (5)  The 
disinclination  of  private  capital,  except  in  the  case  of  em- 
ployers for  their  own  employees,  to  respond  to  invitations 
V  and  opportunities  to  invest  in  housing  schemes  on  the  lim- 
ited dividend  principle,  is  another  reason  why  housing  has 
not  apparently  been  given  more  attention  in  the  United 
States  by  town  and  city  planners.  Cooperation  in  housing, 
-— -as^  in  other  matters,  has  not  succeeded  in  the  United  States 
as  it  has  in  Europe. 

Fire,  flood,  and  earthquake  are  doing  much  to  create  a 
public  opinion  more  favorable  to  the  reasonable  restriction 
and  control  of  private  property.  The  disasters  at  San 
Francisco,  at  Baltimore,  at  Galveston,  at  Chelsea,  at  Dayton, 
at  Salem,  are  convincing  people  that  it  does  not  pay  to 
permit  the  degree  of  freedom  in  the  use  of  private  property 
that  has  prevailed  heretofore.  There  is  also,  happily,  an 
increasing  regard  for  the  conditions  under  which  wage 
earners,  live  in  town  and  city  tenements,  and  an  appreciation 
of  the  relation  that  housing  has  to  the  efficiency  of  workers 
and  the  conditions  of  family  life. 

WHAT  THE  PEOPLE  WANT 

The  promise  for  the  future  is  bright  in  this  field  of  city 
improvement  in  the  United  States,  because  we  realize  that 
changes  in  our  cities,  if  they  are  to  be  permanent  and  far- 
reaching,  must  spring  from  the  people  and  be  at  bottom  an 
expression  of  the  life  of  the  people.     We  do  not  want  mere 

[135] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


•\jr,-3^v|"^    •  ."^IBfEK^ 

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f 

'^'  % 

^\^  T  y    L^     •I  ^ 

'^\%<     i^i^^SmA 

Wl^^ 

'!*W^Ty^M 

^T'?'«jtdttK         "          1 

"'~~"Tv^T~c!t.*^    Vf  I 

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The  George  M.  Pullman  Public  School 

One  of  the  earliest  examples  of  municipal  provision 
for  community  needs 

experts'  cities  unless  those  various  experts  —  engineers,  city 
planners,  landscape  architects  and  architects  —  show  them- 
selves capable  of  expressing  and  interpreting  the  best  im- 
pulses and  highest  conceptions  of  business  men,  of  citizens, 
of  wage  earners,  and  of  fathers  and  mothers  and  children. 
For  true  city  planning  must  make  cities  that  will  serve  the 
needs  —  physical,  economic  and  spiritual  —  of  all  the  people. 
A  civic  art  that  is  to  abide  must  not  be  art  for  art's  sake, 
but  art  for  life's  sake;  and  if  civic  art  is  to  rise  high 
with  us,  it  must  have  a  broad  base  like  the  civic  art  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  in  which  the  whole  body  of  the  people 
were  genuinely  interested. 

We  in  the  United  States  have  the  reputation  of  being  a 
patient,  and  in  some  ways,  a  long-suffering  people.  There 
is   a   reason    for   that    reputation.      But    once    aroused,    we 


[136I 


CITIES,  TOirNS  AND  VILLAGES 


^ 


i>:         M.-     ■ 


mm%\!^j 


^.-.=a«i*»  .^— . 


1^4:  ;•  ■■ .— H^^ 


m,.  ,  m. 


The  Emerson  Public  School,  Gary,  Indiana 

A  notable  example  of  community  achieve jnent.     The  schools 

of  Gary  have  made  the  city  famous.     Each  modern 

building  has  a  ten-acre  school  site  and  a 

ten-acre  park  site 

move,  and  quickly,  toward  practical  results.  When  we 
are  stirred  in  this  matter,  we  shall  not  be  content  with  a 
brij^ht  promise  of  cities,  nor  with  visions,  dreams,  nor  even 
paper  plans.  We  shall  insist  upon  the  adoption  of  methods 
that  will  bring  definite  and  satisfying  results. 

By  what  steps  are  we  likely  to  get  results?  First  of  all, 
we  must  gather  up  the  experience  of  our  own  land  and 
that  from  abroad ;  but  we  must  not  merely  talk  about  it, 
we  must  find  ways  to  apply  it.  We  must  utilize  the  men 
who  know  and  we  must  have  repeated  meetings  and  con- 
ferences and  exhibitions  for  the  comparison  and  communi- 
cation of  ideas.     Then  our  cities  must  have  broader  powers. 


[137] 


NEW  IDEALS  IN  THE  PLANNING  OF 


There  should   be   less   coddhng   by   state   governments   and 
more  city  self-dependence. 

Broader  legal  powers  should  be  accompanied  by  broader 
and  better  ideas  of  municipal  finance.  Much  of  our  prac- 
tice needs  to  be  radically  changed ;  some  of  it  revolutionized. 
We  are  only  beginning  to  apply  sound,  fair  and  equitable 
business  methods  to  the  raising  and  spending  of  the  vast 
sums  which  are  needed  for  a  modern  American  city.  Spe- 
cial financial  methods,  like  excess  condemnation  and  assess- 
ments for  .particular  improvements,  are  beginning  to  get 
wider  consideration  and  application. 

If  we  are  really  to"  advance  in  city  building,  we  must 
recognize  afresh  that  changes  in  our  practice  can  be  brought 
about  only  by  changes  in  public  opinion.  We  must  find 
more  ways  and  better  ways  of  forming  intelligent  public 
opinion  and  of  giving  it  effective  expression.  Above  all 
else,  this  is  what  makes  the  bright  promise  of  modern  town 
planning  in  America,  for  in  this,  I  believe,  we  already  lead 
much  of  Europe.  There  is  nothing  in  Europe  today  that 
surpasses  the  widespread  civic  awakening  among  the  people 
of  the  United  States  and  of  Canada.  Almost  anything 
is  possible  through  the  cooperative  effort  of  such  men  as 
are  now  permanently  pulling  together  toward  definite  ends 
in  the  civic  and  commercial  organizations  of  scores  of  cities 
that  might  be  readily  named.  These  are  the  civic  nerve 
centers.  The  promise  of  our  American  city  planning  is 
bright,  because  of  this  new  spirit  of  democracy,  this  free- 
dom, or  new  conception  of  freedom,  of  which  town  and  city 
planning  and  development  and  better  suburban  building  are, 
after  all,  only  one  meagre  expression. 

There  have  already  been  published  a  number  of  books  and 
pamphlets  of  particular  interest  in  connection  with  the  future 
development  of  town  and  city  planning.  Special  mention 
should  be  made  of  the  volume  by  C.  R.  Ashbee  entitled.  Where 

[138] 


CITIES,  TOWNS  AND  VILLAGES 

the  Great  City  Stands — A  Study  in  the  New  Civics;  also 
What  of  the  City,  by  Walter  D.  Moody;  A  Community 
Center — What  it  Is  and  How  to  Organize  It,  by  Henry  E. 
Jackson ;  A  Self-Owning  Town,  a  publication  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  New  Industrial  Towns;  Reconstruction  with  Par- 
ticular Reference  to  Housing,  a  pamphlet  of  the  English 
Town  Planning  Institute ;  and  Town  Planning  Lessons  from 
Government  Housing  Operations,  published  by  the  American 
City  Planning  Institute. 


UNix-iTT^ciTY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  LOS  ANGELES 


4kriii,# 


